Groundwater recovery problems associated with opencast mine backfills in the United Kingdom

The paper presents the main findings of the research work conducted over the past three years into the environmental effects associated with surface mining. Especial considerations have been give to the re-establishment of the natural groundwater regime, as a consequence of opencast site restoration. A summary of the results of the research is presented and two specific topics, namely, the stability of backfilled masses and the pollution of groundwater are detailed. The project was based on field and laboratory investigations, and details of this work along with some general conclusions are given.