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 relation to catchment areas using the DPSIR framework indicator approach pecomines EVERY MINING SITE IS A COMPLICATED CASE THE 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 D RIVING FORCES human demand for mineral resources regulations assessment inventory P RESSURES formation of emission sources, emission flowpaths and emissions as the result of exploitation of mineral resources S TATE the quality of environment influenced and threatened by emissions originating from the mining activities I MPACTS emission- or risk-caused degradation of the quality of life, including human health, ecosystems, biodiversity, cultural resources, recreational value etc R ESPONSE actions of the communities to reduce impacts and risks to the acceptable level

BACKGROUND: EU ENLARGEMENT (1)

BACKGROUND: EU ENLARGEMENT (2)

BACKGROUND: EU ENLARGEMENT (3)

BACKGROUND: 10 CANDIDATE COUNTRIES (1)

BACKGROUND: 10 CANDIDATE COUNTRIES (2)

BACKGROUND: DIFFERENCES IN MINING IN 1999 Source data: European IPPC Bureau, TWG workspace, Mining Waste Bref EU CC

BACKGROUND: METAL MINING IN CC-s Source data: European IPPC Bureau, TWG workspace, Mining Waste Bref RO BL RO SK PL HU

BACKGROUND: SOLID FOSSIL FUELS MINING IN CC-s SK BL PL CZ RO 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 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 WASTE ROCK TAILINGS EXCAVATION MINING SITE Transported from mining site Used 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 at the mining site

THE SCOPE OF A CURRENT PROJECT ECONOMIC MINERALS ENERGYMINERALS METALLIC MINERALSINDUSTRIAL MINERALS Nuclear fuels Construction materials Uranium CoalOil Non-construction materials Non-ferrous metals Ferrous metals Fossil fuels Precious metals Minor metals Some of the most important metals: Ferrous metals:Fe; Mn, Ni, Cr, Mo, W, V, Co Non-ferrous metals:Cu, Pb, Zn (base metals); Sn, Al Precious metals:Au, Ag, Pt Minor metals:Sb, As, Be, Bi, Cd, Ce, Hg, Nb, Ta, Ti, Zr Fissionable 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, Co Non-ferrous metals:Cu, Pb, Zn (base metals); Sn, Al Precious metals:Au, Ag, Pt Minor metals:Sb, As, Be, Bi, Cd, Ce, Hg, Nb, Ta, Ti, Zr Fissionable 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 Estonian oil shale mining region: ha of open pits, about the same area - underground mines Maardu 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

ADMINISTRATIVE-TERRITORIAL ASSESSMENT OF THE TEST TERRITORY 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 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 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 pecomines

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: (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 Contributions of Remote Sensing pecomines

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 Contributions of Remote Sensing pecomines

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. pecomines

Principal processing issues: spectral and geometrical image rectification Typical processing chain for Landsat TM Data pecomines

Slovakian Mining SitesSmolnik Mining Area pecomines

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 pecomines

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

INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE INVENTORY SECTION I: Data requirements (continued) II For related catchments: Soil maps, scale 1:100,000 – 1: 500,000 European Soil Bureau in IES Regional 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 units Population and population density in each unit

INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE INVENTORY SECTION II: Local knowhow requirements IV Questionnaire to be completed for each major mining site Mining site identification and location Mining site status and production Geological characterisation of exploited reserve Mineral processing and waste management V Local expert evaluation Summary data and statistics for each country on the total amount of mining waste Identification and description of ‘hot spots’ Major hazards sources, risks and impacts Major 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