Photo: BGEN
The first public presentation of the Cadastre of Mining Waste (VIDEO) project was held in the town of Raška today. The representatives of the Ministry of Mining and Energy and members of the project team presented the project methodology, results achieved so far, and the steps to be implemented as part of the project until its completion scheduled for the beginning of 2020.
The Cadastre of Mining Waste project, launched in 2017, is creating a database of all active and abandoned locations of mining waste in the Republic of Serbia aiming to create an inventory of mining waste facilities in the form of a cadastre. The project is aiming to assist the Republic of Serbia in harmonizing its legislation with the EU Acquis Communautaire in the mining and environmental sector, specifically through the development and improvement of the mining waste management system.
Eight teams of mining and geology engineers and technicians visited 250 location across the country and found out that there are 105 mining waste sites with larger amounts of mining waste and that the total quantity of mining waste stands at around 24 million of cubic meters. After the consultation between the project team and the Ministry of Mining and Energy, 41 locations were selected to be further investigated (sampling of soil, mining waste, groundwater and surface water, chemical analyses, stability assessment).
The selected locations comprise 80% of identified mining waste. They are located in 21 municipalities across the country: Aleksinac, Boljevac, Bor, Brus, Crna Trava, Čajetina, Dimitrovgrad, Knjaževac, Kragujevac, Krupanj, Kučevo, Loznica, Ljubovija, Majdanpek, Mali Zvornik, Nova Varoš, Prijepolje, Raška, Surdulica, Voždovac (in Belgrade), and Zaječar.
The EUR 2.1 million project is 90% funded by the EU and 10% by the Government of the Republic of Serbia. It is implemented by a consortium of German companies Plejades and DMT in cooperation with Serbian partners.
Cadastre to be open to the public
Dragana Jelisavac Erdeljan, head of the Mining Department at the Ministry of Mining and Energy, said that once the project is finalized in February 2020, the cadastre will be open to the public.
Jelisavac Erdeljan said that this project is important since it will, for the first time, present systematically collected and compiled data on all mining waste sites, including their volumes and the mining waste characteristics, as well as possible hazards.
This database will provide the Ministry of Mining and Energy with sound documentation of the state in the sector.
Also, this database will provide a possibility to react in an appropriate manner in the case of remediation, rehabilitation, and re-cultivation of mining waste facilities that are critical for the environment or human health, she said.
Seven out of 41 selected locations are located in the municipality of Raška.
Raška Deputy Mayor Đorđe Gogić said that there are three active mines in the territory of the municipality, as well as that there has been strong interest of mining companies that plan or already conduct exploration activities aiming to open mines and start with the exploitation.
The municipality of Raška is ready to cooperate with mining companies and provide them with a business-friendly environment, while it expects companies to operate in line with the best mining practices and take care of all aspects of environmental protection.
„We consider that model of responsible business operations as the one to secure a true partnership and mutually beneficial cooperation,“ he added.
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