Post Mining

Managing mine water level rebound is a key task in post-mining operations. The focus here is on finding a controlled, sustainable and ecologically and economically viable solution for all parties involved. Intensive research and scientific monitoring of past and ongoing mine water level rebound in recent decades have enabled reliable control and documentation of the monitored processes, as well as ...

Long gone are the times of mining officials being trained at the Bochum Mining School. As a result of the continuous post-mining transformation, the traditional buildings are now home of the TH Georg Agricola University (THGA), Bochum/Germany, which prepares young engineers for today’s challenges and tackles the numerous tasks of post-mining. Fitting this year’s theme “Digitalization meets tradition”, multiple generations of ...

This article is a partial transcript of the opening lecture at the conference “Nachbergbauzeit in NRW 2025”, which took place on 20th March 2025 in Bochum/Germany (1). It presents a portfolio from the research environment of the Research Center of Post-Mining (FZN) at the TH Georg Agricola University (THGA) in Bochum. The results are a team effort. They are applications ...

The closure of hard coal and lignite mines has the potential to result in long-term environmental risks and socio-economic issues. The European project “Post-Mining Multi-Hazards evaluation for land-planning” (POMHAZ), funded by the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, aims to enhance methodological knowledge for multi-hazard analyses at the mining region scale and improve hazard assessment and risk management of former ...

There are numerous mining legacies both worldwide and in Europe. They can pose risks to people and the environment. Improperly closed, orphan or abandoned mines therefore represent a difficult legacy for governments, communities and mining companies. Both the closure of current mines and former mines require knowledge and methods to ensure successful remediation. However, there is often a lack of ...

Department 63 of the Mining and Energy Department in NRW of the Arnsberg District Government, Dortmund/Germany, records former, historical mining sites throughout the state in accordance with the State Soil Protection Act of North Rhine-Westphalia (LBodSchG). The industrial history data collected is archived in a cadastre, the so-called Catalogue of Old and Suspected Mining Areas (BAV-Kat). The aim is to ...

From a socio-economic perspective, the development potential of post-mining sites is one of the key issues in post-mining research. To date, there have been a number of case studies and empirical investigations, as well as some generalisations derived from these, particularly in the context of the transformation debate. What is lacking, however, is a comprehensive systematisation that clarifies basic concepts ...

Based on the articles in the 2020 to 2022 annual reports of the Mining and Energy Department in NRW of the Arnsberg District Government, Dortmund/Germany, this article describes the further progress of the work to implement the mine water concept of RAG Aktiengesellschaft (RAG), Essen/Germany, with regard to the operating plans under mining law and the permits under water law, ...

Since 2011, the NRW mining authority, Dortmund/Germany, has been running a risk management programme for old mining with a focus on surface entrances. Over the past 13 years, 4,542 documented surface entrances located in the area of responsibility of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia have been included in the risk management system for abandoned mines and assessed in terms of ...

The planned coal phase-out and the energy transition with their climate policy targets in Germany are linked to the expectation that domestic coal and thus coal mining will be completely replaced by renewable energies. To a considerable extent, this has already happened in this country. However, the consequences for the energy industry have hardly been explicitly considered and analysed from ...