In the heart of the Hulunbuir grassland in Inner Mongolia, there is an open-pit coal mine that has been mined for over a hundred years—Zhalainor Open-Pit Coal Mine,
The ecological problems caused by its over a hundred years of mining history include comprehensive challenges such as geology, hydrology, and plant system reconstruction.
Resource development is not "use and discard," and ecological debts cannot be "passed down through generations."
Zhalainor mining area under restoration
To truly build a green mine and effectively solve the key technical challenges in the field of mine ecological restoration and geological environment management, and to better transform and promote research results, Inner Mongolia Mengcao Ecological Environment Co., Ltd. cooperated with the government of Zhalainor District, Hailar City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to implement the Zhalainor District open-pit mine environmental management and restoration project, resulting in a qualitative change in the ecological environment around the mine.
Government and enterprise joint governance of grassland injuries
In the late Qing Dynasty, the Russian Empire built railways in the Hulunbuir grassland and dug out coal blocks in mouse holes. The authorities sent people to survey and confirm that there was coal underground, and in 1902, Zhalainor Coal Mine was established, going through periods of operation by the Eastern Qing Railway, Russian capitalists, Sino-Soviet joint ventures, and Japanese puppet rule. After the founding of New China, Zhalainor Coal Industry Co., Ltd. began construction of the Lingquan Open-Pit Coal Mine in 1960, which started production in May 1966.
After a hundred years, Zhalainor Open-Pit Coal Mine has mined approximately 52 million tons of coal, making a significant contribution to the economic development of the Manzhouli region. However, over 100 years of mining has created a pit area of about 500 hectares, with multiple spoil heaps piled around the pit, covering a total area of 1276 hectares, which local people habitually call a "man-made sinkhole."
Since 2012, Mengcao Group has begun to intervene in the ecological restoration work of the Zhalainor open-pit mining area. By 2016, Mengcao Group had sent professional research teams in mining, soil, big data, and cold-resistant plants to collect and analyze over ten thousand types of natural data from the mining area and surrounding areas, including water, soil, air, flora and fauna, and microorganisms, and integrated this data into the Mengcao Ecological Big Database, providing accurate data analysis of the area in a short time. At the same time, focusing on the key issues of ecological restoration of the Zhalainor open-pit coal mine, the Mengcao technical team conducted on-site surveying, numerical simulation, and evaluation planning design to diagnose issues related to slope stability, site leveling restoration, and ecological restoration of the closed pit.
In 2016, the Manzhouli Municipal Government decided to close this open-pit coal mine. In 2017, the Manzhouli Municipal Government and Mengcao Ecology reached a cooperation agreement on the ecological restoration of the Zhalainor mine, aiming to achieve a green closure of the Zhalainor open-pit coal mine through Mengcao-style ecological restoration.
Three-dimensional restoration innovatively solves multiple technical challenges
The geological environment at the "man-made sinkhole" site is complex, making restoration difficult. Those who have been to the site vividly refer to it as: "Flame Mountain," "Quicksand River," and "Water Curtain Cave."
"Flame Mountain"—an area of open flame combustion. Due to climate, strata pressure, and coal quality, coal mines are prone to spontaneous combustion. Some of the original exposed coal seams in Zhalainor have been self-igniting for over a century, consuming a large amount of high-quality energy and producing harmful gases, rendering the land unusable and preventing plant growth.
"Quicksand River"—a geological creep area. The mined-out area experiences geological creep due to unbalanced forces, causing the surface with coal gangue to loosen and shift, and mining waste has formed multiple spoil heaps around the mining area, with loose accumulations of white clay, coal gangue, etc., which can easily lead to landslides, mudslides, and other natural disasters.
"Water Curtain Cave"—a bottom seepage area. Mining has destroyed the surface and underground water systems, forming a water surface and seepage layer that can reach depths of over ten meters at the bottom of the coal seam, which can easily cause subsidence and collapse of the coal mine pit.
A series of technical challenges such as landslides, collapses, mudslides, combustion points, and seepage layers make the road to mine restoration exceptionally difficult.
Between 2012 and 2016, Mengcao Group sent research teams from mining, soil, big data, and cold-resistant plants to collect and analyze over ten thousand types of natural data from the mining area and surrounding areas, including water, soil, air, flora and fauna, and microorganisms, and integrated this data into the Mengcao Ecological Big Database, providing accurate data analysis of the area in a short time. At the same time, focusing on the key issues of ecological restoration of the Zhalainor open-pit coal mine, the Mengcao technical team conducted on-site surveying, numerical simulation, and evaluation planning design to diagnose issues related to slope stability, site leveling restoration, and ecological restoration, proposing a Mengcao-style ecological restoration joint technical plan of "slope control - site leveling restoration - ecological restoration - infrastructure construction."
Three-dimensional restoration must necessarily address many interdisciplinary issues simultaneously.
For example, landslides. The slopes of the mining area are steep and narrow, with poor soil, an average slope of 60°, and the tops are mostly nearly 90° vertical slopes. Mengcao-style ecological restoration adopts a stepped slope reduction method to achieve a reasonable height and angle, followed by detailed adjustments and layered restoration.
Another example is soil improvement. After a century of open-pit mining, the surface soil of Zhalainor open-pit coal mine has completely eroded, leaving behind dust, gangue, and fine sand, which restricts the extension of plant roots and the absorption of nutrients and moisture. The organic matter in the soil has decreased by about 90%, and total nitrogen has decreased by 60%, severely restricting plant growth. Mengcao-style ecological restoration improves the soil through "topsoil stripping + imported soil covering," supplemented by mixing self-developed mining restoration substrate soil, sheep manure, and other natural fertilizers, creating an environment rich in insects and microorganisms to help the land quickly return to a state suitable for planting.
After a year and a half of ecological restoration, the mining ecological restoration project has achieved a greening area of approximately 4.6 million square meters, and the number of plant species has increased from more than 10 to over 70; it has transitioned from annual mixed grasses to perennial high-quality forage plant varieties such as Gramineae and Leguminosae; the vegetation coverage of the originally bare land has been restored to nearly 90%, significantly improving vegetation coverage and grass yield. In the open-pit mining area after ecological restoration, various birds, insects, and animals have re-established their habitats, gradually forming stable and adaptive ecological communities, improving the local benign microclimate environment, and the restored Zhalainuoer mine is now lush and green.
Ecological economy takes off relying on digital resources
"In the future, we want to use the 'hand' of ecology to drive the economic development of Zhalainuoer." This is the vision of the Mongcao Mining Ecological Restoration Company.
The confidence in achieving an "ecological economy" comes from the decades of accumulation of Mongcao's comprehensive ecological big data platform construction and ecological restoration technology system.
The Mongcao Mining Ecological Restoration Research Institute relies on "local grass seed industry + ecological big data" to provide a "one-stop" comprehensive solution for mining and slope ecological restoration, with a series of products and services including Mongcao ecological packages, Mongcao vegetation bags, Mongcao vegetation blankets, biological grids, Mongcao spraying, and soil improvement. At the same time, the ecological restoration technology of the Mongcao Mining Ecological Restoration Research Institute utilizes big data calculations to achieve standardized output of products, technology, quality, and services, which can be promoted and applied nationwide.
Making the mine green is just the first step for Mongcao to practice the "Two Mountains Theory" to achieve ecological economic growth, and the support for the ecological economy goes beyond digital resources, also initiating the industrial chain of mining derivatives.
Currently, Mongcao is planning and developing the tourism industry around mining cultural heritage, linking the ten-thousand-year mammoth culture, thousand-year Xianbei culture, and hundred-year industrial and mining culture along the timeline, creating cultural tourism integration products focused on mining relic sightseeing and popular science education, transforming mines into gold mountains and mining areas into scenic spots, truly realizing the development concept that green mountains and clear waters are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver.
It has been proven that the new momentum and new business formats extended from the ecological field have become the driving force for the ecological digital transformation - the "germplasm resources + ecological big data" model. The Mongcao Group advocates and continues to commit to the model of "data first, then formula, and finally restoration," which may become the industry banner in the field of mining ecological restoration supported by the ecological big data platform.□
Website editor: Gong Li