Revista Estratégica vol.10 - Faap

depreciation of surrounding properties, generation of degraded areas and urban traffic
disturbances. These same externalities generate conflicts in the community, which
usually originate on the implementation of the project because the developer does not
seek information about the expectations, desires and concerns of residents living near
the mining company (BITAR, 1997).
The distortion of the landscape caused by the opening of the mine front sets up a
substantial impact, almost always being the first one to be noticed in the clay mining
enterprises. It is not just a visual impact but also a geomorphological change expressed
by changes in morphology and in flows of matter and energy existing in the system.
The pit resulting from the extraction of clay and deposits of sterile material alter the
local topographic forms, which can result in a number of other indirect changes, causing
modifications in current morphological processes, such as changing directions of
flows of water runoff, determining that areas under the control of the erosive effects
become environments of deposition and vice versa (COLTURATO, 2002).
According to Brushi and Peixoto (1997), materials released in the extraction process
tend to move around the strands until they reach the river channel, causing siltation.
The increased bed load, in general, echoes in increased bank erosion, once the drainage
tends to seek its equilibrium profile by extending the thalweg in a geometric pattern
more appropriate in order to transport the imputed mass into the system, sometimes
incompatible with its capability.
The sediments are also released by waste dumps without stability arranged in
plots, where the retaining walls are absent or inadequate. In addition, it also degrades
the soil on which it is laid, as well as the existing vegetation that is buried
by the overlying tailings.
Another pressing problem to be considered in mine planning refers to the aeolian
transportation of small size materials ; this property is intrinsic to the sterile clay, when
uncompressed. The particles can sometimes be transported to considerable distances,
beyond the area of the mining influence , thus expanding the spatial extent of impacts.
Fish culture activity as a strategic tool for the recovery of
degraded areas
Mining is a degrading activity and one of the largest contributors to the process of
environmental change, affecting not only the local landscape, but the entire ecosystem
dynamics. Nevertheless, mineral resources are essential inputs and are part of virtually
all human activities.
There are many studies that aim at the recovery of areas degraded by mining. But
when it refers to a line of innovative research, such as the use of armholes for fish production,
it tends to draw the attention of companies. Several study centers have been
Innovation applied to the recovery of degraded areas..., Marcelo R. dos Anjos, Francisco A. de Andrade e Pamela M. R. Monte, p. 23-36
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