Coal Mining in Kuzbass and New Ecotechnologies
Over the last years, Kuzbass sharply raised coal extraction by open-cut coal mining (up to 74% of the total volume). The negative side of the increased share of open-cut coal mining is a growing area of disturbed land, which currently amounts to 150 thousand hectares. The paper summarizes the results of field tests involving a new nature preservation technology of restoring ruined lands and bringing biological diversity to spoil banks. Over six years, a stable, self-sustaining, and long-term nature-like community is formed, consisting of 30-40 species of steppe plants.