🎈 Public Lab: Mine Reclamation: Research Area Review Summary

Mine Reclamation: Research Area Review Summary

At the end of March, we wrapped up a review on the topic of mine reclamation.

We talked with community members doing local research and advocacy on mining and reclamation and learned about methods to monitor reclamation. Here’s where you’ll find new and updated resources on this topic:

Mine reclamation wiki page: background information on mine reclamation, community stories and projects, questions and activities, and regulations on reclamation.
Evaluating the success of mine reclamation: a new wiki that @laurel_mire started to outline methods for evaluating reclamation success, especially through soil health.
Flocculation wiki page: collecting information on the flocculation process and flocculating agents, sometimes used in mining and other industries.
Finding reclamation plans and permits for mines: an activity on finding public records of permits to see a mining company’s reclamation plan. Includes an editable spreadsheet!

Our research area review on mine reclamation began with a kick-off call in February (notes here) and continued with weekly Open Calls. Community members investigating various kinds of mine operations posted research notes and questions, collected under the #mining tag and #mine-reclamation tag.

Many thanks to all who joined the conversations and engaged on the website to share and build knowledge together ❤️

@Pat, @junior_walk1337, @ekpeterman, @jfreemanfilm, @dswenson, @eustatic, Steve Hoffman, Caitlynn Beckett, @laurel_mire

⛰️ Presentation on community science and mine reclamation

We wrapped up the review with a presentation on community science resources for mine reclamation, including various monitoring methods and advocacy approaches that communities have used locally and shared guidance on. Slides from the presentation are below, and a recording of the call and all the links shared in the presentation and chat are here.

Following the presentation, @laurel_mire facilitated a conversation where we shared new questions and reflections arising from what we learned.