Serbia; Cadaster of mining dumps and abandoned caves

With the financial support of the European Union, Serbia started to develop the Mining Waste Cadaster.

An important work, because in addition to two hundred active mines, in Serbia there are about 250 abandoned caves, surface mines, quarries and landfill mines, which are an environmental risk.

In the past year, the German-Serbian team of experts visited all 250 potential mining waste sites and submitted the first reports to the Ministry of Mining and Energy. Reports for dumps of active mines have also been made, because their annual production of solid waste only exceeds 150 million cubic meters.

“Currently, we are planning a more detailed visit to those locations that already have an estimated detrimental impact and mapping locations that could have a detrimental effect. It is important for us to get the cadaster, but also the classification and categorization of that waste, then a detailed risk assessment,” says Tanja Stojanović, Head of Projects in the Ministry of Mining and Energy.

In addition to the cadastral register, the cadaster of mining waste will also be available in electronic form. And a guide for mining and environmental inspectors has already been made.

“On a concrete site, after just a few clicks, all information on mining waste will be available, which is to assist the administration, but also waste management in Serbia, because mining can have serious environmental consequences. In the long run, the cadaster will contribute to improving the quality of the environment and security of mining activities,” says Peter Bayer, an expert at the German company “Plejades”.

Landfills and abandoned mines are in the vicinity of urban and protected areas, for some it is not known even in their ownership. That is why it is very important that all mining waste is under control.

“With this kind of cadaster we will be able to know which locations can be rehabilitated, ie recultivated,” says Tanja Stojanović.

Mining waste deposits also make significant financial wages. They contain recyclable metal residues, and in particular, they are utilized with coal deposits.

“In Europe, specifically in Belgium, where I was present, people took the coal deposit where there were up to 10 percent of the coal content. And now, if you have a million tonnes of landfill with 10 percent, that’s 100 thousand tons. 100 euros, it comes to you 10 million euros in two to three years, these are not negligible things, “says Vojin Cokorilo, professor at the Faculty of Mining and Geology.

The value of this project is 2.1 million Euros – 90% of the funds were provided by the European Union, and the rest is the Government of Serbia.

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