The mining industry of the past has left long-lasting tracks in the territorial structure of the Ruhr area. Dealing responsibly with the area’s mining heritage in terms of sustainable regional developments is a major challenge. In 2014, the 17 pertinent municipalities and districts, together with the state government of North-Rhine Westphalia, RAG Aktiengesellschaft and the Ruhr Regional Association (RVR), concluded ...
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Open-Pit Mine Backfilling with External Soil Material
North-Rhine Westphalia is among the federal states that are richest in raw materials. In numerous operations, quartz gravel, quartz sand, clay and bedrock are won, provided, they are subject to the guidelines of the Federal Mining Act (BBergG) and supervised by the District Council Arnsberg, Department for Mining and Energy in North-Rhine Westphalia (mining authority of North-Rhine Westphalia), located in ...
Read More »Digitalisation, Automation, Interoperability – Standardisation at International Level
Digitalisation, automation, interoperability – three buzzwords that are frequently used, but that often run into a dead end at the point of interoperability. The industrial sector wants to see this changed by the elimination of the barriers to interoperability. The vision of complete standardisation in digitalisation and automation is wishful thinking that will most likely never come true. Nevertheless, creating ...
Read More »Wear Problems? – Laboratory Testing and Numerical Simulation Support the Selection of the Best Material
In view of the high costs that arise each year due to material wear, which can amount to several percent of GDP, there is now an urgent need for wear protection systems designed to help reduce this financial loss. This requires a detailed knowledge of the areas in which the components or machine parts are being used, as these elements ...
Read More »Underground Limestone Mining by Rheinkalk GmbH in Wülfrath – a new Underground Mine for Raw Material Supply in North-Rhine Westphalia – from Operations Plan Application to Extraction
Lhoist Germany Rheinkalk GmbH, Wülfrath/Germany, is planning an underground experimental operation (Rohdenhaus experimental mine) to increase the mineral reserves of the deposit at the Wülfrath site in order to determine the economic feasibility for extraction of parts of the deposit that are not accessible for surface mining. For this purpose, an experimental mine is to be built and operated in ...
Read More »Foundation of the Water Management Office of the Westphalian Miners’ Union Fund 100 Years Ago
The year 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Water Management Office of the Westphalian Miners’ Union Fund. This institution still exists today, albeit in a modified form and under a different name. This fact underlines its importance for mining and post-mining. The history and the constantly changing tasks over the course of 100 years for this ...
Read More »Ongoing Post-Mining Deficiencies in Raw-Materials Policy and the Repurposing of Mining Infrastructure
The Research Center of Post-Mining (FZN) at the TH Georg Agricola University (THGA) in Bochum/Germany has significantly expanded the range of its research programme since 2019/2020. Its scope has now been broadened by the new research division “Reactivation and Transition”. Research in this division focuses on land development and regional policy, socio-economic aspects and governance of post-mining. Emphasis is less ...
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