INVENTORY OF MINING WASTE IN THE EU CANDIDATE COUNTRIES OBJECTIVE: to compile an inventory of toxic waste sites from mining in EU Candidate Countries in.

INVENTORY OF MINING WASTE IN THE EU CANDIDATE

COUNTRIESOBJECTIVE: to compile an inventory of toxic waste sites from mining in EU Candidate Countries in relation to catchment areas using the DPSIR framework indicator approach

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EVERY MINING SITE IS A COMPLICATED CASETHE IMPACTS ARE FOLLOWED ON CATCHMENT SCALE

CONTENTS

DPSIR FRAMEWORK

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

METHODOLOGY APPLIED FOR TEST TERRITORIES

WASTE FORMATION

ADMINISTRATIVE-TERRITORIAL SCALE

DEPOSIT AND CATCHMENT SCALE

SITE CLASSIFICATION RELATED TO TOXICITY

REMOTE SENSING TOOLS

INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS ACCORDING TO THE METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH AND FINAL DELIVERABLES

DPSIR FRAMEWORK

conceptual framework developed by EEA combining information from the various sources and disciplines into sets, each set described by certain

indicators

DRIVING FORCES

human demand for mineral resources

regulations

assessment

inventoryPRESSURES

formation of emission sources, emission flowpaths and emissions as the result of exploitation of mineral resources

STATE

the quality of environment influenced and threatened by emissions originating from the mining activities

IMPACTS

emission- or risk-caused degradation of the quality of life, including human health, ecosystems, biodiversity,

cultural resources, recreational value etc

RESPONSE

actions of the communities to reduce impacts and risks

to the acceptable level

BACKGROUND: EU ENLARGEMENT (1)



BACKGROUND: 10 CANDIDATE COUNTRIES (1)

BACKGROUND: 10 CANDIDATE COUNTRIES (2)

BACKGROUND: DIFFERENCES IN MINING IN 1999

Fe Bauxite Cu Pb

Mn Hg,Ni,W,Sn Zn Au

Ag Hard-coal Lignite Oil shale

Source data: European IPPC Bureau, TWG workspace, Mining Waste Bref

EUCC

BACKGROUND: METAL MINING IN CC-s

Source data: European IPPC Bureau, TWG workspace, Mining Waste Bref

Production in 1999

-

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

400,000

450,000

500,000

Iron

Bau

xite

Cop

per

Lead

Man

gane

se

Zin

c

ton

nes

Bulgaria Czech RepublicEstonia HungaryLatvia LithuaniaPolandRomaniaSlovakiaSlovenia

Cadmium Gold Silver(t) (kg) (kg)

Bulgaria 260 1,033 20,000 Czech RepublicEstonia HungaryLatvia LithuaniaPoland 200 350 1,096,000 Romania 470 17,800 Slovakia 302 287 Slovenia

RO

BL

BL

BL

BL BL

RO

RO

RO

RO RO

SK

PL

PL

PL

HU

HU

BACKGROUND: SOLID FOSSIL FUELS MINING IN CC-s

Solid fossil fuels production in 1999

-

20,000,000

40,000,000

60,000,000

80,000,000

100,000,000

120,000,000

Hard-Coal Lignite Oil shale

ton

nes

Bulgaria Czech RepublicEstonia HungaryLatvia LithuaniaPolandRomaniaSlovakiaSlovenia

Source: European IPPC Bureau, TWG workspace, Mining Waste Bref

SK

BL

PL

PL

CZ

CZ

RO

ROHU

HU

EE

SLO

BACKGROUND: SOLID FOSSIL FUELS MINING

COMMON MINING-RELATED ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS IN 10 EU

CANDIDATE COUNTRIES

DECREASE OF THE MINING INDUSTRY IN LATE 1980’s - 90’s BECAUSE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMICAL AND POLITICAL REASONS, LEADING TO THE PROBLEMS RELATED TO CLOSURE

Some examples: ESTONIA - phosphate mining closed, oil shale mining decreased almost 3 times during 1980-2000

CZECH REPUBLIC, SLOVAKIA - metal mining stopped, closure projects from 1991

POLAND - problems with liquidation of coal and sulphur mines

SLOVENIA - Closing down many of mines and pits, mostly because of economic reasons, in the last decade

MINING OF FOSSIL FUELS: ACID DRAINAGE, NEUTRAL SULPHATE DRAINAGE, SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION

MINING OF METALS: ACID AND METAL-RICH DRAINAGE, EMISSIONS OF IN-SITU LEACHING SOLVENTS

MINING OF INDUSTRIAL MINERALS: DIFFERENT EMISSIONS

WASTE FORMATION: A SIMPLIFIED SCHEME

MINERAL DEPOSIT

ORE

PROCESSING

MARKET PRODUCT

WASTEROCK

TAILINGS

EXCAVATION

MINING SITE

Transportedfrom mining

siteUsed on site:- backfilling

- further processing

(eg leaching stockpile)

- dam construction

- other use

NOTES:

Dashed line indicates that processing can take place inside the mining site and outside the site (e.g. bauxite mine) as well.

Orange colour indicates mining waste (waste rock and tailings).

NOTES:

Dashed line indicates that processing can take place inside the mining site and outside the site (e.g. bauxite mine) as well.

Orange colour indicates mining waste (waste rock and tailings).

Landfilled atthe mining

site

THE SCOPE OF A CURRENT PROJECT

ECONOMIC MINERALS

ENERGY MINERALS METALLIC MINERALS INDUSTRIAL MINERALS

Nuclearfuels

Constructionmaterials

Uranium CoalOil

Non-constructionmaterials

Non-ferrousmetals

Ferrousmetals

Fossilfuels

Preciousmetals

Minormetals

Some of the most important metals:

Ferrous metals:Fe; Mn, Ni, Cr, Mo, W, V, CoNon-ferrous metals:Cu, Pb, Zn (base metals); Sn, AlPrecious metals:Au, Ag, PtMinor metals:Sb, As, Be, Bi, Cd, Ce, Hg, Nb, Ta, Ti, ZrFissionable metals:U, Th (U is considered here as nuclear fuel.)

Some of the most important metals:

Ferrous metals:Fe; Mn, Ni, Cr, Mo, W, V, CoNon-ferrous metals:Cu, Pb, Zn (base metals); Sn, AlPrecious metals:Au, Ag, PtMinor metals:Sb, As, Be, Bi, Cd, Ce, Hg, Nb, Ta, Ti, ZrFissionable metals:U, Th (U is considered here as nuclear fuel.)

Oil shale

Selected list

Other

Asbestos Fluorite Gypsum Magnesite Phosphate Salt Sulphur

Sulphides in overburden of open mines for industrial minerals

SITE IDENTIFICATION DEVELOPED FOR THE TEST TERRITORY: AN EXAMPLE OF ESTONIA

Sillamäe uranium mill tailings (40 ha) and closed underground mine

http://www.ecosil.ee/

Estonian oil shale mining region: 12000 ha of open pits, about the same area - underground minesMaardu closed phosphate

mine: 1040 ha of poorly reclaimed open pits, sulphides and OM from overburden oxidising in waste rock

3 areas identified; peat, sand, gravel, limestone mining neglected

http://www.ep.ee/

ADMINISTRATIVE-TERRITORIAL ASSESSMENT OF THE TEST TERRITORY

40 km0 2040 km0 20

Location of tailings ponds

Ida-Virumaa county

Number: 1

Location: Sillamäe

Area: 40 ha

Mined commodity: uranium

Status: on-going reclamation

Location of opencast mining activities

(Harju and Ida-Virumaa county)

Location of underground mining activities

(Ida-Virumaa county)

the size of the circle describing the size of the disturbed area

Location of the mining waste landfills, the size of the circle describing the amount

CATCHMENT-SCALE ASSESSMENT OF THE TEST TERRITORY

CATCHMENT ANALYSIS

All sites of Estonia possibly contributing to the pollution of a part of the Baltic Sea - Finnish Gulf.

Also, Lake Peipsi, the 5th largest freshwater lake in Europe possibly affected.

In Harjumaa county, lake Maardu, a 65-ha freshwater lake, as well as Kroodioja stream seriously affected.

Uranium mill tailings imposing immediate risk to the Baltic Sea.

DEPOSIT-SCALE ASSESSMENT OF THE TEST TERRITORY: OIL SHALE MINES

Open mines

Underground mines

Natural reserve

Deposit area

Base map: Eesti Pôlevkivi, Estonian Oil Shale Company

DEPOSIT-SCALE ASSESSMENT OF THE TEST TERRITORY: LOCATION OF WASTE ROCK

LANDFILLS

13 Mt in landfills of closed mines

138 Mt in landfills of working mines

Base map: © Estonian Geological Survey

SCIENTIFIC DEPOSIT-SCALE ASSESSMENT: GEOENVIRONMENTAL MAPPING

Geoenvironmental models:

Deposits can be classified into different types, each type having similar geochemical environmental signature, for example a potential

- to produce acid drainage (presence and particle sizes of sulphides), and

- to buffer acid drainage (presence of carbonates and alumosilicates).

USGS: (1) mining districts likely to generate highly acidic, heavy-metal-rich acid drainage waters

(2) mining districts that can generate acidic to non-acidic mine-drainage waters with elevated levels of some heavy metals

(3) mining districts likely to generate non-acidic mine drainage with low levels of acid drainage

SCREENING OF ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS

How do mining waste landfills, backfills and underground work-out areas contribute to environmental pollution?

Case-specific, every case depending on a large number of physical, chemical and technological parameters - however, many cases are very similar with respect to environmental impacts

GEOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF POTENTIAL HAZARDS: AN EXAMPLE OF A PHOSPHATE MINE

Mineralsproducingacid drainageand

Mineralsreleasingheat whenoxidised

Inertminerals

Mineralswith limitedbufferingpotential

Minerals withhigh bufferingpotential

Mined commodity(1) Phosphorite

(1) Quartz (1) Apatite (Ca-phosphate)

Host rock mixedinto waste(2) Alum shale(3) Sandstone(4) Limestone

(2) Pyrite(2) Organicmatter


(2) Quartz(3) Quartz(4) Quartz

(2) K-feldspar(2) Illite(3) K-feldspar(4) Illite(4) K-feldspar

(4) Calcite

Technologicalsolvents usedSurroundings(5) Limestone

(5) Quartz (5) Illite(5) K-feldspar

(5) Calcite

AMD INDICATION

HEATING AND COMBUSTION INDICATION

HIGH BUFFERING CAPACITY

INDICATION

AMD and BP connected with different rock types:category

2 mining district

that can generate

acidic to non-acidic mine-

drainage waters with

elevated levels of

some heavy metals

GEOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF POTENTIAL HAZARDS: AN EXAMPLE OF AN OIL SHALE MINE

Mineralsproducingacid drainageand

Mineralsreleasingheat whenoxidised

Inertminerals

Mineralswith limitedbufferingpotential

Minerals withhigh bufferingpotential

Mined commodity(1) Oil Shale


(1) Organicmatter(1) Pyrite

(1) Quartz (1) K-feldspar(1) Illite

(1) Calcite

Host rock mixedinto waste(2) Limestone

(2) Quartz (2) K-feldspar(2) Illite

(2) Calcite

Technologicalsolvents usedSurroundings(3) Limestone

(3) Quartz (3) Illite(3) K-feldspar

(3) Calcite

AMD INDICATION

HEATING AND COMBUSTION INDICATION

HIGH BUFFERING CAPACITY

INDICATION

AMD and BP connected with the same rock

type, calcite >> pyrite - category

3 mining districts

likely to generate non-acidic mine

drainage with low levels of

heavy metals

MINING AND MINING WASTE RELATED INSTITUTIONS: AN EXAMPLE

MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT

- Waste Department

- Department of Environmental Management and Technology

- Regional Environmental Departments in Ida-Virumaa and Harju Counties

CENTRE OF INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY

- EEA National Focal Point

- National databases management

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

- resource exploration

- deposit and waste mapping

TALLINN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF TARTU

The Mining Institute:

- mining technology

- GIS of mining areas

Institute of Geology:

- waste rock studies

- hydrochemical modelling

Ökosil Ltd

- Sillamäe radioactive tailings pond remediation

Eesti Pôlevkivi

- oil shale mining

Project PA n° 42

Inventory, Regulations and Environmental Risks of Toxic Mining Wastes in Pre-Accession Countries

Contributions of Remote Sensing

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Task 1: Support compilation of the inventory of waste sites from mineral mining in Pre-Accession countries in relation to “sensitive” catchment areas, by combining an indicator approach according to the DPSIR framework with an analysis of satellite remote sensing:

• improved differentiation of mining wastes from other extraction sites and land fills compared to CORINE LC

• fully geo-referenced mapping of active and ancient mining waste deposits for the regional coverage at scale 1: 50000 (50 m accuracy, > 1 ha object resolution)

• investigate potential of spectral differentiation of waste deposits (e.g. estimate of FeOx and OH abundance as proxy for AMD and heavy metal abundance, etc.)

• analyse standardised time series of satellite data for survey of the development of mining sites during the last 15 to 20 years


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Task 2: Contribute to the assessment of the consequences of mining accidents in a perspective of ecosystem protection, by comparing local approaches to site monitoring and restoration with similar activities at the site of the Aznalcollar accident in Spain where the JRC is also involved:

• Provide spectro-analytical models to quantify soil contamination/degradation phenomena through high spectral resolution reflectance measurements

• Apply these models to remote sensing data of different spectral and spatial resolution for semi-quantitative mapping of residual heavy metal bearing material in affected areas

• Identify vegetation anomalies and provide regular up-dates of land cover to establish change history of target areas


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Expected Deliverables

•Methodology and demonstration of processing chain for fully geo-referenced identification and mapping of superficial mining waste sites at local and national scale, based on spectral discrimination of key mineralogical components.

•Time series of Landsat TM satellite data to derive vegetation and land cover anomalies, as well as change detection on selected sites.

•Spatial and multi-temporal analysis of observed changes and anomalies in relation to existing field data (e.g. pH maps, water quality etc.) for impact assessment.

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Principal processing issues: spectral and geometrical image rectification

Landsat TM data (scene or 1/4)

Geometric correction

Test site area

Geodatabase

(UTM)

Map(UTM)

Test site area

Radiometric correction DEM(UTM)

Radiometric correction

Registration image toimage

Reflectanceimage

Georeferenced imagesradiometrically comparable

Registered imagesradio. comparable

Typical processing chain for Landsat TM Data

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Slovakian Mining Sites Smolnik Mining Area

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Principal processing issues: spectral discrimination of waste

Discrimination of FeOx and OH bearing surfaces from Landsat TM Data

Algorithm based on known spectral properties of key mineralogical components, interpretation on knowledge of geochemical processes

Example:

Baia Mare, Romania

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INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE INVENTORY

SECTION I: Data requirements

I Deposit scale

Topographic map of the country, scale 1:100,000 – 1: 500,000

Background geological map for major deposits - metal deposits (iron and non-ferrous), solid fossil fuel deposits and deposits of industrial minerals (sulphur, baryte, flourite, phosphate, asbestos, magnesite, graphite, gypsum, salt), also exceptional cases with sulphides in overburden, scale 1:100,000 – 1: 500,000

For each deposit: boundaries, mineral commodities mined, genetic type, age, local formation name, petrology and mineralogy

For whole country: hydrological map, watershed boundary map

For deposit areas: surface water quality map/data, groundwater hydrology (major aquifers) and geochemistry map/data

EXPECTED OUTCOME: developing and making available maps and tools highlighting problematic areas and major environmental issues concerning toxic mining waste


SECTION I: Data requirements (continued)

II For related catchments:Soil maps, scale 1:100,000 – 1: 500,000 European Soil Bureau in IESRegional climatic data, precipitation and infiltration data

Land use and land cover maps Land use-Land cover Unit in IES Protected areas, species and ecosystems

III For related administrative-territorial units:List and map of the unitsPopulation and population density in each unit


SECTION II: Local knowhow requirements

IV Questionnaire to be completed for each major mining siteMining site identification and locationMining site status and productionGeological characterisation of exploited reserve Mineral processing and waste management

V Local expert evaluationSummary data and statistics for each country on the total amount of mining wasteIdentification and description of ‘hot spots’Major hazards sources, risks and impactsMajor efforts, projects and plans

EXPECTED FINAL DELIVERABLES OF THE INVENTORY

(1) A set of geoenvironmental maps of 10 Candidate Countries that presents the main hot spots of already existing and potential impacts originating from toxic mining waste

(2) A report that- gives an overview of the mining waste problems in the

countries- provides description of the major hot spots in the countries identified as priorities on national level- identifies environmental risks and impacts with respect to different vulnerability areas on catchment scale- defines the gaps in existing information

INVENTORY OF MINING WASTE IN THE EU CANDIDATE COUNTRIES OBJECTIVE: to compile an inventory of toxic waste sites from mining in EU Candidate Countries in.

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