Use of geographical information technologies in mining hazard indes

Mining sector is one of the oldest and most important sectors in the world; however, if no measures are taken, it is quite dangerous for the nature and living creatures. Nevertheless, not each mine harms the environment at the same rate. In this study, a total mine hazards index has been created by using the geographical information systems and remote sensing to reveal which mine harms the environment most. This index addresses the deforestation, mine waste amount and production amount risks. The harms brought by these risks to the mining areas and the environment were both calculated. Heavy metal concentration was also added among the mine risks to render the index more sensitive. The index was applied to 50 open mining sites, which are still operational and are in Çanakkale, İzmir and Balıkesir provinces. The mining groups and the mine types in these 50 selected mining sites were selected randomly. The 50 mining sites were opened between the years 1987 and 2015. The index results show that the risk brought by a mine does not depend on the type of mine, date of opening the mining site or the mine group. There are various factors affecting the mine risk. According to the index results, the most dangerous three mines in the areas covered by this study are the iron mine opened in 1990, limestone mine opened in 2006 and kaolin mine opened in 2004, respectively.