Measures to Reduce Mining Damage

Abstract

Where there is underground mining over a wide area, ground movement and mining damage cannot be avoided in densely populated districts. For example, the cost of repairs, compensation for loss of value, and structural precautions in the Ruhr District alone amounted in 1981 to some 770 million DM (say US $ 320 million). Of this total, around 50% was for the control of drainage (Fig. 340). In addition, the Ruhrkohle AG group set aside three times the annual requirement in a reserve fund for mining damage. In the U. K., the cost of mining damage in the year 1964 amounted to some £4 mn ($ 8 mn), of which almost 50% went on minor damage to houses. In potash mining and ore mining, expenditure for mining damage is somewhat less.