Several basic scientific issues related to mined land remediation

Based on analyzing the concepts relevant to land reclamation,mined land remediation is proposed to act as the higher hierarchy for discipline development instead of mined land reclamation,which covers restoration,reclama- tion and rehabilitation. In terms of ecological resilience,the roles of natural restoration and manual intervention are dis- cussed and a kind of self restoration model (SRM) for mined land ecosystem induced by manual intervention is pro- posed;the identification and remediation of the critical restrictive factors are also emphasized. Further studies on the acceptable conditions and remediation targets for SRM are introduced. Whichever preventive measures before mining or remediation measures after mining to be taken are up to the mining methods,remediation cost and ecological service value. In general situation considering nowadays mining technology,preventive measures before mining and low damage techniques for open-pit mining should be taken as essential methods. After integrated mining,stripping,disposal and reclamation into a whole, resoiling becomes into the key step for successful mined land remediation. On the other hand,preventive measures before mining are only used for protecting special surface buildings or most valuable ecolog- ical zones impacted by underground mining.