PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND MINERALOGICAL SOIL CHARACTERIZATION IN THE CESAR COAL MINING AREA, COLOMBIA

The development of coal mining projects in the department of Cesar, Colombia, is an activity of great economic importance for the country. The future of the land affected by coal mining depends upon the development of rehabilitation projects based on prior knowledge of the properties of mine spoils and native soils, besides many other climatic and ecological aspects. Under this premise, we have studied spoil and soil samples, using soil and geochemical analytical techniques. It is shown that the analysis of information obtained from soil and geochemical parameters can be of great practical use to guide future rehabilitation practices and to guide. future research on land affected by mining. It is concluded that it may be interesting to evaluate correctly the significance of organic carbon and salinity of the materials, as well as the existence of some potentially toxic elements such as Se or Zn, or deficiencies of nutrients such as P.