6l. Step Six: Reclamation – Spread soils and seed with grasses or crops

In step six, the subsoil and topsoil are hauled back to the mining site and spread with bulldozers. Stakes placed during the permitting process and GPS measurements are used to determine the soil’s depth.

After the soils are contoured, the land is ready for replanting. Mining brings many rocks to the surface, which must be picked before tilling. With farmland, landowners plant and harvest crops on reclaimed farmland. Grazing lands or prairies are replanted with native grasses.

Due to state laws against corporate farming in North Dakota, mining companies do not farm cropland where the company owns the surface rights. Instead, some mining companies lease reclaimed land to farmers and ranchers. While the land isn’t initially as productive as it was before mining, over time the production levels will meet or exceed the land’s original quality.