Roving Orkney News reporter, Nick Morrison, has been in Germany over the past weeks with family but also managed to send us back reports:

Brückenkopf Re-enactment Festival May 2018

Krauthausen, Germany Mai Traditions

One of the areas he was in was where the spoil from Opencast mining had been used to create a hill, ridge and wildlife area now populated amongst other animals by deer.

Hambach Opencast Mine

By Nick Morrison

entrance

The biggest opencast mine in Germany is in the former Eastern Germany. This “smaller mine” is 400 Meters deep that means the bottom is 300 Meters below sea level. Whole villages have been evacuated that were ” in the way”.  The Company bought all the houses at pretty fair price and then built a new village which the house holders are free to move to if they wish. The evacuated villages are very creepy to drive through according to local residents.

It is intended to partially flood the hole to form a lake.

The brown coal is transferred to local power stations by a conveyor belt.

The spoil from the mine has been used to form an artificial hill, well more of a ridge and turned into a nature reserve.

The biggest opencast mine  in Germany is in the former Eastern Germany.

See also:

Hambach opencast mine

Germany – Open Pit Coal Mining Operation

German activists lose bid to halt Hambach mine expansion

The Coal (Lignite)