Ukraine ranks 7th place in the world in terms of coal reserves. On the territory of Ukraine there are three coal basins: Donetsk, Lviv-Volyn and Dnipro, the largest of which is the Donetsk basin, where 85 % of Ukraine’s coal resources are concentrated. Since the mid of the 1990s the coal industry of Ukraine is being restructured, the purpose of which ...
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Digital Twin – Integrated Geomonitoring
One of the main challenges facing us today is the environment and how to protect it. Mining activities over the years have had an enormous impact on the three environmental elements water, soil and air. Ground movements in mining areas can be observed both during the mineral winning phase and after this has ended. This phenomenon may affect the water ...
Read More »Historic Mining Infrastructure as an Opportunity for Regional Water- and Energy Supply: The Water Reservoir Harz 2050 Project
High precipitation, dams and waterworks make the Harz Mountains a large freshwater supplier. But, challenges arise based on climate change and extreme weather events. Old mine working can support water management if integrated into the system. Successful planning and integration need a holistic understanding of the regional water cycle, the current situation of the mine workings and the interaction. The ...
Read More »Post-Mining as an Example of Economic Evolution. Explanatory Elements in the Work of Helmut Arndt.
Every mining operation and mine site will, as such, come to an end one day and so will transition to the post-mining era. That is simply part of the economic evolution. As for the post-mining sector, which it has long neglected, conventional economic science still finds it hard to accept realistic explanations of evolutionary developments. And yet productive ideas on ...
Read More »Targeting a Low-Carbon Economy Using China as an Example: The Pros & Cons of a Shift from Coal to Renewables
Climate neutrality is a global goal that requires the high integration and use of renewable energies to ensure such a transition. In this regard, China in particular, as the largest mining country in the world, is at the forefront of renewable energy production, both through hard coal and rare earths. The great potential faces crucial negative aspects: The production of ...
Read More »Emerging Global Trends in the Extractive Industry – International Potential and Future Roles of Remediation Expertise from Germany
Never in history were more mineral resources extracted than at present. In the past 20 years alone global metal ore extraction doubled. If current growth rates continue, more metals will be mined by 2028 than from the beginning of humankind to 2013. This exploding demand is set to rise even further as fossil-fuel based economies transform into low-carbon societies. Along ...
Read More »Suspend Coal Phase-Out – Keep Existing Plants in Operation and Reactivate Available Capacities, Give Transition More Time
While there are no fundamental doubts about the direction of the energy transition in Germany – much less the goal of achieving sustainability – the changes in the general circumstances dictating energy policy that have occurred in 2022 give rise to sound arguments in favour of suspending the coal phase-out agreed in Germany. Current law requires the completion of the ...
Read More »Securing an Air Shaft in Witten, Taking into Account an Overburdened Mine Water Level
At the beginning of March 2020, the Arnsberg District Government, Department of Mining and Energy in NRW, Dortmund/Germany, was notified of a repeated significant inflow of water in the area of a residential building in Witten. In view of the damage that had already occurred to the building and according to the assessment of the mining situation shown in the ...
Read More »Mining Engineering Aspects of Underground Waste Utilisation in Saliferous Formations Based on the Mine GTS Grube Teutschenthal
Backfilling of the cavities created by mineral extraction to support the surrounding rock is understood to be an integral part of mining engineering. In contrast to this, underground waste disposal/utilisation is often referred to as a post-mining use of the mine workings, although it requires the same technology and know-how as extraction mining, however with one small decisive difference – ...
Read More »Mine Water Rebound in the Former Hard Coal Mining Area of the Ruhr District – Hydrogeochemical Monitoring for a Sustainable, Ecological and Economical Feasible Post-Mining Approach
Mine water rebound including mine water management and water treatment are key perpetual tasks for the operating mine company RAG Aktiengesellschaft, Essen/Germany, and associated foundation RAG-Stiftung, Essen/Germany, since hard coal mining in the Ruhr District ceased at the end of 2018. The scientific support of the mine water rebound process includes a robust risk management and associated hydrogeochemical monitoring to ...
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