Novel Planning Strategies for Ecological Restoration of Abandoned Mines: A Case of Toli County, China

With the development of mineral resources, the inevitable creation of numerous abandoned mines has impacted environmental resources. Numerous studies have been conducted on the restoration and management of individual abandoned mines. However, there has been no systematic study on the overall ecological restoration planning of abandoned mine clusters. Hence, there is an urgent need to research restoration planning strategies, focusing on the characteristics of abandoned mines and their environmental impacts. In this study, abandoned mines in Toli County, Xinjiang, were selected as the case. The K-means clustering analysis method was employed to study the spatial distribution of abandoned mines, selecting longitude, latitude, and road access as analytical factors. Based on spatial location attributes, three groups of abandoned mines were identified. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to study the ecological importance evaluation model in Toli County, selecting eight evaluation factors including vegetation, precipitation, and population density, and dividing the ecological importance levels of various sectors to establish a three-stage restoration project. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method was used to assess the hazards of abandoned mines, selecting distance, land type, area, and ecological impact as influencing factors and determining the management sequence of abandoned mines within each project. The results show that (1) longitude, latitude, and road indices help to mitigate geographical obstacles such as mountains and rivers, ensuring a high degree of continuity in abandoned mine areas; (2) the AHP reveals that the combined weight of population density, gross domestic product, and vegetation index exceeds 80%, which are key factors affecting the priority of ecological restoration; and (3) the application of PCA provides a scientific basis for the hazard assessment and management of abandoned mines, prioritizing those close to densely populated areas and with larger areas. The significance of this study lies in providing a systematic method for ecological restoration planning of abandoned mines, as well as offering important references for future research and practice in related fields.