Regarding the mine environment, the current issues can basically be categorized into five types: first, land exploitation and landscape destruction; second, destruction of vegetation and ecosystems; third, impacts on and damage to groundwater systems.

China’s mine environment is not optimistic, and the restoration of mine environments is a long and arduous task with a bright future ahead.

　　5 Moon 28 On that day, Beijing was bathed in scorching sunshine. In the conference room of the China Institute of Fiscal Science, located west of the Aerospace Bridge, guests from the China Institute of Fiscal Science, the Consulting and Research Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the China Fiscal Society, Minsheng Bank, as well as representatives from Yunye Group and Shandong Gold Group, were engaged in a lively discussion on the application of mine environmental restoration technologies to capital operations.

　　The first speaker was Qian Yuhao, a member of the Advisory Committee at the Consulting Research Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources and国土资源. He focused on introducing the basic situation and development trends of China’s mine ecological environment. He said that mining is a double-edged sword: while it has made irreplaceable and significant contributions to the advancement of human society and material civilization, it has also given rise to extremely complex and serious environmental problems.

　　Regarding the environmental conditions of mines, the current problems can basically be categorized into five main types: First, land exploitation and landscape degradation; second, destruction of vegetation and ecosystems; third, impacts on and damage to groundwater systems; fourth, triggering various geological hazards; and fifth, the most critical issue—pollution. At present, the overall state of China’s mine environments is not optimistic. A significant proportion of coal mines suffer from severe environmental problems. 19.54% , more severe cases account for 48.53% ; Severely affected are non-ferrous metal mines. 21.66% , the more severe cases account for 43.42% ; Construction materials and general non-metallic mines account for a relatively high proportion of those with moderate to severe issues. 20.85% 。

　　China’s awareness of mine environmental remediation came relatively late, and its initial efforts also started relatively late. Nevertheless, a series of laws and regulations have been introduced. In addition to... 1989 Besides the Environmental Protection Law of the year, there are two directly relevant ones: one is... 1986 the “Mineral Resources Law” of the year, one is 1989 The “Land Reclamation Regulations” of the year. 2010 The State Council revised it again this year, putting forward different requirements. The most noticeable change is the increased emphasis on pollution.

　　Qian Yuhao introduced that since the establishment of the Ministry of Natural Resources, it has continuously invested funds in mining environment restoration. 2000 Year ~2006 Year, total investment 24 Hundred million yuan allocated for the organization and implementation of mine environmental restoration and remediation projects. 797 However, during this period, the overall content primarily focused on geological hazards caused by mining, land reclamation, and the utilization of wastewater and waste. 2006 Years later, the country stepped up its efforts in environmental governance, with an average annual investment of approximately... 20 hundreds of millions of yuan, and the amount has been increasing year by year, reaching... 2014 By the end of the year, the cumulative funds invested in mine environmental restoration reached 901 Hundred million yuan, leveraging local fiscal funds and self-raised capital from enterprises. 604 hundred million yuan. Meanwhile, deposits have begun to be collected for mine environmental remediation, and the cumulative amount of deposits returned has reached... 307 100 million yuan.

　　Qian Yuhao believes that the future development of mine environmental restoration is both a long and arduous journey and holds bright prospects. Today, green development has already sparked a global trend, and China... “ 13th Five-Year Plan ” The plan sets forth clear requirements for addressing environmental issues in mining areas, and follow-up incentive policies are currently being developed. Environmental restoration and mine construction are moving toward institutionalization and standardization. He said: “ Future mine environmental restoration must be underpinned by technological support. It is a massive, systematic undertaking involving numerous disciplines. Only through joint planning and collaborative exploration of solutions—tailoring approaches to local conditions and specific mining sites—can we achieve the noble goal of clear skies, lush greenery, and pristine waters. ”

　　Research on phytoremediation of mine-contaminated land is deepening, and the cost of remediation is expected to drop significantly.

　　Why is it necessary to control and remediate environmental pollution in mining areas? What soil remediation technologies are currently available? Chen Tongbin, Director of the Environmental Remediation Center at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, provided answers from a professional perspective. He said that in mining environments, people usually pay more attention to the visible ecological damage caused by mining activities—such as water pollution, vegetation destruction, and land subsidence. However, in fact, there’s another critically important environmental issue associated with mining: the contamination of mine soils (land).

　　Agricultural soil pollution has drawn societal attention in recent years because it affects the hygiene and safety of agricultural products. However, land pollution caused by mining activities still hasn't received sufficient attention. After all, such sites aren't as valuable as urban land, they're not used for farming, and they have nothing to do with food or housing. Yet from a soil environmental perspective, the harm caused by polluted mine lands is extremely serious—and this harm accumulates slowly, remains hidden, and is irreversible. Therefore, the remediation and management of mine-affected environments have become an urgent necessity.

　　In terms of mine environmental remediation technologies, Chen Tongbin believes that although China has already accumulated some experience, there are still relatively few economically viable remediation techniques available overall. Many practices, such as land reclamation and revegetation in mining areas, do have ecological conservation value; however, they still fall short in adequately addressing the removal and control of pollution.

　　Mine environmental remediation is a systematic undertaking that involves numerous technologies requiring further refinement and R&D. For large-scale, widespread mining-contaminated lands, the relatively feasible approaches at present are phytoremediation and phytostabilization. / Plant immobilization, physical isolation, and other methods. Certain specialized vegetation can immobilize pollutants in situ, preventing them from migrating into groundwater or being carried by surface runoff into surface waters. Phytoremediation involves cultivating specific hyperaccumulator plants that efficiently absorb and concentrate heavy metals within their tissues, thereby enabling the extraction and removal of these contaminants. For example, Pteris vittata (Chinese brake fern) can accumulate arsenic at concentrations as high as... 1% Above, the nitrogen and phosphorus content is even higher than in the plant body itself; its arsenic concentration is significantly higher than that of ordinary plants. 10 Ten thousand ~20 Ten thousand times over—when the earthworm fern is burned, it turns into an arsenic ore. Based on this principle, a brand-new field has emerged internationally, known as phytomining. This approach not only helps remediate contaminated soils and improve environmental quality but also enables the recovery of mineral resources and expands metal reserves. Moreover, Chen Tongbin argues that it is essential to clearly delineate the boundaries of mining areas and their affected zones. In mining areas, tailings can perhaps be treated through methods such as solidification, passivation, or thermal treatment. However, when it comes to large-scale, widespread contaminated farmland—such as subjecting it to high-temperature thermal treatment—the soil’s organic matter would completely decompose, its physicochemical properties would undergo radical changes, and the soil would lose its original ecological functions, thereby rendering the farmland’s basic functions unsustainable. Such an approach simply wouldn't work in mining-affected zones.

　　 “ Of course, there are many other scientific ideas and ongoing research efforts in this field, but so far, there haven’t been many cases of successful application of these approaches to mine land restoration projects. We’ve been continuously exploring systematic solutions to mine land pollution using technologies such as phytoremediation and phytoextraction. Recently... 20 Over the years, we have also collaborated with several enterprises—for instance, Chihong Zinc & Germanium and Yunnan Tin Group in Yunnan Province—on research and demonstration projects related to phytoremediation. Currently, we have carried out over a dozen field cases of agricultural land and mine soil remediation across various provinces and cities. Through this work... 3~5 Over the course of a year, plant extraction technology can clean up contaminated soil. Currently, the total investment per mu of land is... 3~5 Ten thousand yuan is sufficient. In the future, as the scale expands, the cost of restoration is expected to drop significantly. Overall, practice has proven that this approach is viable and has already reached the stage of large-scale engineering implementation. ” Chen Tongbin is full of confidence in the path of phytoremediation for mining-contaminated land.

　　“Besides repairs, what’s even more important is to stop generating new pollution,” said Wang Chaocai, deputy director of the Institute of Fiscal Science under the Ministry of Finance of China. “ Regarding mine environmental restoration, we all need to work together. However, on the other hand, we should pay even closer attention to ensuring that today’s mines absolutely cannot cause any new environmental damage. If we keep focusing solely on remediation without prioritizing prevention, I’m afraid that mine restoration will never truly be completed—and worse yet, the more we try to fix, the more problems may actually arise. It’s crucial both to address and clean up the existing environmental pollution and, even more importantly, to prevent further damage from occurring in the first place. Both of these tasks are equally vital. ”

　　Mine environmental restoration and remediation require collaborative investment from both the government and private capital; the two naturally have a strong foundation for cooperation.

　　Given the promising technological prospects, what about the level of financial support from the national government? Zhao Quanhou, Director of the Financial Research Office at the China Academy of Fiscal Sciences, explained that the Chinese government attaches great importance to environmental restoration, and relevant policies are moving from being non-existent to becoming increasingly systematic. In terms of geological environment restoration and remediation in mining areas, only... 2015 Year, the central government allocated funds for mine environmental remediation. 30.58 100 million yuan; projects cumulatively arranged using central government financial funds 1954 units, with a total treated area exceeding 80 Ten thousand hectares; nationwide 31 All provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) have now introduced and implemented a deposit system for the remediation and restoration of mine geological environments.

　　Regarding relevant tax preferential policies, the state has the following provisions: First, for environmental protection and energy-saving and water-saving projects, enterprise income tax is exempted from the first to third year, and is reduced by half from the fourth to sixth year; second, qualified energy service companies implementing contract energy management projects can enjoy— “ Three exemptions, half-price reduction ” Policies, as well as preferential tax treatments for corporate income tax related to relevant assets; third, the investment amount for specialized equipment dedicated to environmental protection, energy conservation, and water saving. 10% It can be credited against the enterprise’s tax payable for the current year. Fourth, income derived by enterprises from producing products that are neither restricted nor prohibited by the state and comply with relevant national and industry standards, using resources specified in the “Catalog of Income Tax Preferences for Enterprises Engaged in Comprehensive Resource Utilization” as their primary raw materials, shall be subject to a reduced tax rate. 90% Included in total revenue; fifth, there are exemptions from value-added tax, immediate refunds of value-added tax, and immediate refunds of value-added tax specifically targeting waste utilization, energy conservation, and water conservation. 50% The preferential policy of collecting and then refunding the value-added tax.

　　Zhao Quanhou said that, specifically in the area of mine environmental restoration, cooperation between the government and social capital can be pursued—this is precisely what the Ministry of Finance has been vigorously promoting. PPP Pattern. PPP The pattern is Public-Private-Partnership The acronym refers to a partnership-based collaborative relationship established between government and private organizations, founded on concession agreements, with the aim of providing certain public goods and services. This collaboration is formalized through the signing of contracts that clearly define the rights and obligations of both parties, ensuring the smooth completion of the cooperation and ultimately enabling all participating parties to achieve outcomes that are more favorable than those they could have achieved by acting independently. Generally, areas of cooperation between governments and social capital fall within the public sector—projects in these areas typically generate little or no cash flow, or their cash flows are insufficient to cover the entire investment return of the project.

　　In this context, how can the government and social capital collaborate? The Ministry of Finance has provided the answer. —— Government-Social Capital Cooperation has 3 Seed mode:

　　The first type involves a model with no cash flow. For projects lacking cash flow, the government must adopt a fully government-funded model in its collaboration with social capital. In government-paid road projects, for instance, throughout the entire lifecycle—from construction to operation and maintenance—the government is required to bear the costs. By bringing in social capital, the government can transform what would otherwise be one-time investment expenditures into recurring expenditures, spreading the fiscal outlays over the project’s entire lifecycle. “ Trickling stream ” To offset the one-time investment, this public-benefit project—which generates no cash flow—adopts PPP Another benefit is that it can improve the efficiency of using public goods and reduce costs.

　　The second approach is the gap-subsidy payment model. For example, some bridges charge tolls, but these tolls may not fully cover the costs of building the bridge. If the government were to set toll rates solely based on the amount needed to recoup the investment and generate an appropriate return, it could artificially discourage both passenger and freight transportation. As a result, toll pricing often only generates a portion of the cash flow required to fully offset the social capital investment. Therefore, the government adopts a necessary subsidy-payment model to ensure that toll prices are reasonable, affordable for the public, and yet still allow social capital to achieve a viable return. PPP