The contour mining method is typically used in the mountainous areas of the Eastern U.S., where coal seams are exposed in outcrops on hillsides and mountainsides. This method gets its name from the path of the mine working on a level contour around the mountain. This is a typical view of contour mining before the Surface Mining Law required environmentally sound mining practices and reclamation of the land. Click on the red numbers for a description of what is happening, or here for an 8 1/2" x 11" higher resolution copy of the illustration that you can print on a laser printer and color.
Key
Contour Mining:
Before the Surface Mining Law
1. Bulldozers push trees, shrubs, topsoil, subsoil, and overburden over the down-slope with no intention of reclaiming the land. Mixing the trees, soil, and rock together eliminate the chance for plants to grow and create a highly erodible condition that will last for many years in the future.
2. This corn field has been greatly impacted by a landslide caused by the mining. Large streams of water now rush down across the field carrying rock and sediment from the mine. This common problem associated with contour mines before the Surface Mining Law will continue to damage the farmers land and he will eventually have to abandoned the field.
3. A drilling rig bores blast holes and blasts consolidated overburden. Without any blasting regulations the mine operator scatters rock for long distances any time day or night. The nearby farmhouse has been damaged by flying rock and the resident is afraid to let his children play outside.
4. This farm has been using a spring for its water supply for over 100 years. The mining above the house has destroyed the spring and left the resident without water for his family and livestock.
5. A bulldozer works together with a shovel removing the remainder of the overburden and exposing the coal. Rock spoil is pushed over the slope and crashes down the hillside. When mining is complete the cliff-like highwall behind the mine and the eroded overburden will remain. This exposed material will continue to erode and cause streams in the valley to clog and be polluted.
6. A front-end loader digs coal and loads trucks which use a haul road located on a previously mined bench. Rainfall accumulating on the bench runs off and cuts deep gullies in the slope as it pours down the hillside.
7. Auger mining is in progress removing additional coal from the exposed outcrop. Without reclamation acid mine drainage will pour from these holes and run into nearby streams killing all plant and animal life in the water.
