Dust pollution due to mining activities is drawing greater attention as the awareness in the society is increasing about the environmental issues. Dust pollution is generally characterised by suspended particulate matter. Suspended particulate matter (SPM) generated from the different mining operations in a mine is a serious threat to the health of manpower as well as to the local community. Air pollution is one of the common environmental problems as faced by the management of surface mines. Due to demand to increase the production of the mineral and coal, there is a requirement to increase the capacity of the working machineries or use the high capacity heavy earth moving machineries. This leads to generation of more SPM which is likely to affect the environment severely. It has been assessed (Gautam et al., 2012) that surface mine has been responsible for creating more impact on surrounding environment as compared to underground mining methods in the same area. In every surface mining method, starting from the surface of the earth till reaching to the ore deposit or coal seam, all activities are performed in open atmosphere which leads to higher degradation of the environment. In underground mining, all major activities are carried out beneath the earth surface and nothing is exposed to the surface environment and consecutively deterioration of the environment is very less in comparison to that of by surface mining methods. Dust is generated during all phases of exploitation and processing of mineral from fugitive sources in surface mines such as shovelling, ripping, drilling, blasting, transport, crushing, grinding, screening, and stockpiling etc. Health impacts from dust emissions are related to the main components of dust (silica, silicates, carbonates), as well as to rock impurities and trace components (asbestos etc.), those can cause serious diseases like pneumoconiosis, silicosis, asbestosis etc. (IFC, 2006). Surface minerals extraction and processing operations can generate large quantities of fugitive dust that, when released in an uncontrolled manner, can cause widespread nuisance and potential health concerns for on-site personnel and surrounding communities. Typical fugitive dust emission sources may include minerals transfer points, conveyance, loading into crusher feed bins, haulage and blasting (Appleton et al., 2006). Vehicular traffic on unpaved haul roads of the opencast mines has been identified as the most prolific source of fugitive dust (Sinha et al., 1997). Excessive dust generation from such haul roads is a problem common to most surface mining operations especially in semi-arid and arid areas.

Mining operations generates substantial quantities of airborne respirable dust, which leads to the development of lung disease in mine workers. Coal worker's pneumoconiosis and silicosis are lung diseases that have adversely impacted the health of thousands of mine workers. The increasing trend of opencast mining leads to release of huge amount of dust. These air borne dust particles, generally below 100 micron in size, are environmentally nuisance and cause health hazards as an ill effect of mining activities. Opencast extraction activities like drilling, blasting, material handling and transport are a potential source of air pollution. Therefore, a detailed study on emission sources and quantification of pollutant concentration by means of dispersion modeling is required to access the environmental impact of a opencast mine. On the basis of the predicted increments to air pollutant concentrations, an effective mitigation and environmental plan can be devised for sensitive areas. In the present study, Air quality modeling has been attempted using AERMOD. Line source & Volume source modeling has been carried out for haul road and open pit respectively. From the modeling exercise, dust concentrations at certain receptor locations have been predicted and it was found that the resultant SPM level at these locations will remain within the NAAQS norms.

Coal remains one of the principal sources of energy for the United States, and the nation has been a world leader in coal production for more than 100 years. According to U.S. Energy Information Administration projections to 2050, coal is expected to be an important energy resource for the United States. Additionally, metallurgical coal used in steel production remains an important national commodity. However, coal production, like all other conventional mining activities, creates dust in the workplace. Respirable coal mine dust (RCMD) comprises the size fraction of airborne particles in underground mines that can be inhaled by miners and deposited in the distal airways and gas-exchange region of the lung. Occupational exposure to RCMD has long been associated with lung diseases common to the coal mining industry, including coal workers' pneumoconiosis, also known as "black lung disease." Monitoring and Sampling Approaches to Assess Underground Coal Mine Dust Exposures compares the monitoring technologies and sampling protocols currently used or required by the United States, and in similarly industrialized countries for the control of RCMD exposure in underground coal mines. This report assesses the effects of rock dust mixtures and their application on RCMD measurements, and the efficacy of current monitoring technologies and sampling approaches. It also offers science-based conclusions regarding optimal monitoring and sampling strategies to aid mine operators' decision making related to reducing RCMD exposure to miners in underground coal mines.