Affiliations: [a] Department of Mining, Qaemshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qaemshahr, Iran | [b] Mining and Metallurgical Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran | [c] Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Maragheh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Maragheh, Iran
Abstract: Mining affects the environment around the extracted area negatively. As a result, it is vital to rehabilitate mines and reclamate the region to its former natural condition or use the land in an optimized way. The choice of herbal types and planting them to conserve the natural environment of the region and reclamating the mine is of utmost importance. When a case study was conducted in Sarcheshmeh copper mine which is one of the 10 biggest copper mines of the world, plant species were selected according to the initial factors of the rehabilitation scheme, climatic conditions and soil conditions. Then, secondary factors were identified and decision matrices that are based on questionnaires completed by experts, plant species based on regional perspective criteria, resistance to disease and insects, their strength and development, access to the plant species, economic efficiency, soil conservation and water saving, prevention of various types of contamination were all classified according to the multi-criteria decision making methods. It is worth saying that the weights of the criteria are compared with the use of PROMETHEE and Fuzzy TOPSIS methods. The best plant species in the mining area and tailing dam prioritized by PROMETHEE method are mountain almonds (2.28), tamarisk (1.44), ephedra (0.55), pistacia (0.44), Astragalus (−2.22), and salsola (−2.48).
