Geochemistry and mineralogy of coal mine overburden ... ScienceDirect
Earlier studies also reported that 4 m 3 of overburden is generated per tonne of coal in open cast mining, and the expected amount of 250 Mt of coal will result in 1000 m 3 overburden. For this amount of mined coal, it is reported that, per year, 60 km 2 of land is degraded in mining activity, and about 75 km 2 is used for dumping external rock ...