what are the environmental implications of open cast mining?

Unlike hard rock open cast mining, there aren't too many environmental implications from open cast coal mining. Strip mining is carried out on a large scale from one direction towards the opposite direction. The soil is stripped off and deposited in a safe place, the rock overburden is stripped off & deposited and then the coal is dug out and taken away.

Once all the coal, in a particular area of the mine has been mined out, the rock overburden and then the soil are put back in sequence & the land can become farmland once again. Most progressive governments insist that land that has been used for open cast mining be reclaimed.

Why would anyone WANT to re-open an open cast coal mine after 20 years if all the coal has been removed?? You would probably find some rusty, broken equipment. There might be the hint of some oil leaks but otherwise there would be nothing.

Now if we look aside from strip coal mining to mountainside removal or hard rock copper / gold / silver mines, now these would be different issues and leaves very distinctive scars on the landscape. There's the potential for pollution but even here, the possibility of converting open pits into lakes for fish farming or other leisure activities has real potential.