ABSTRACT
The adverse effects of mining on the geological environment include changes in the landscape, landslides, subsidence, pollution of water and soil, lowering of groundwater, damage caused by explosions, etc. The intense development of the mining industry led to increase in the depths where minerals are mined. Belgium extracts coal from depths of 1400 metres. Almost all mining involves the penetration of the lithosphere through quarries, opencast mines and the underground mines. The impact of mining in a given district is determined by the geological characteristics of the rocks, such as, age, lithology, structure and tectonics, geomorphic setting, weathering, etc. Surface mining usually involves the removal of the soil cover and the detritus through the use of scrapers, bulldozers or digging machines, and the drilling and blasting of the rock and ore below it. Blasting operations in quarrying and opencast mining pollute the atmosphere through dust and gases.
