Geotechnical Investigations of Coal and Iron Mine Refuge for Backfilling in Opencast Mine: A Comparative Study

All opencast mines should be restored and reclaimed with proper technology to reduce stability issues and environmental problems. Proper backfilling of mines using the waste materials from waste dumps could be a viable solution as it reduces mining subsidence, minimize spontaneous combustion, enhance reclamation, restore mined out surface land and create a safe working atmosphere. While taking a particular material for backfilling, assessment of the material's short term and long term geotechnical properties and likely response after the placement to determine the fill's ability to be act as stowing material is imperative. Important properties for the insitu fills are strength, deformability, capability to dissipate pore pressure, primary and secondary consolidation characteristics, durability and leachabilityetc. In this paper, the geotechnical properties of the coal and iron mine wastes have been investigated as to assessing and comparing their suitability for backfilling in opencast mines.