Burning coal waste pile

This subset of the Quickbird image shows the largest coal waste pile in Wuda. This coal mountain is visible from nearly everywhere in the syncline and exceeds 70 meters in height. A conveyor belt transports the coal waste to the top of this artificial small mountain. Please note the smoke column, which is visible on the western side of the coal waste pile. The pile is burning due to spontaneous combustion - green house relevant gasses are released. In-situ the waste pile in some areas shows exhalations of sulfuric minerals and reddish rocks, which were changed in colour and texture due to the heat of the burning coal waste.