Study on environmental pollution caused by dumping operation in open pit mine under different factors

It is necessary to discuss particulate matter (PM) diffusion and distribution in open pit mines’ dumping operation process. In this paper, the PM migration and distribution under different factors are studied through numerical simulation. The results showed that, the PM downwind diffusion distance decreased as PM density increased during the dumping process. Specifically, when the PM density was 4800 kg/m3, the PM downwind diffusion distance was approximately 58 m, and the PM could not easily be resuspended. The impact of the dumping angle on the PM diffusion distance in the downwind direction was minimal, whilst a large dumping angle increased the PM concentration near the dumping site. Meanwhile, wind speed diluted the PM concentration in the atmospheric environment to a certain extent, the average PM concentration at different heights in the atmospheric environment was lower than 50 μg/m3 when wind speed reached 4 m/s. The starting mechanism of PM in the dumping operation process of open pit mines may be summarized as collision, wind force, and induced airflow. The results of the present study can provide a theoretical basis for PM control strategies and environmental evaluation in mine dumping operations.