Abstract
There has been a phenomenal increase in the production of coal from surface mines in India. Vehicular traffic on haul roads of mechanized open-cast coal mines has been identified as the most prolific source of fugitive dust. The airborne dust not only creates a serious health hazard, but also affects the productivity through poor visibility and increased maintenance cost and ultimately deteriorates the ambient air quality in and around the mining sites. An intensive study was carried out in the Muraidih Open-cast Project of Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. (Dhanbad, Bihar, India) for 1 year to characterize the airborne haul road dust. The percentage of suspended particulate matter at the various size ranges and the free silica content of each of the size ranges of haul road dust were determined. Dust particles are an obvious source of trace elements in the mines. Concentrations of nine trace elements in the haul road dust and the benzene-soluble fractions of suspended particulate matter at the various stations of the mine during all four seasons in 1992-1993 were also determined. Enrichment factors were determined and varimax rotated factor analysis was done to get an idea about the source of the various trace elements.