University of Applied Sciences, Bochum (GER):

J. Kretschmann, President of the Technische Fachhochschule Georg Agricola, Prof. Dr., kretschmann@tfh-bochum.de

Around the world, mining has been done for thousands of years for the benefit of humankind. The winning process in mining operations ends with the depletion of the deposit or its closure if the operation becomes economically unprofitable. After that, a period of postmining follows which may last for a very long time and which is generally regarded as a period of hazards, risk and high cost. In Germany, we have had to deal with abandoned mines for a considerable period of time now. At the same time, economic and ecological requirements are constantly increasing, and the public opinion on mining has changed, e.g. its willingness to accept the consequences of mining activities. Thus it makes sense to establish suitable risk management for the post-mining era. The mining companies in Germany are challenged to come to terms with sustainable mining: i.e. to regard the wake of the mine closure not only as a threat to economy, ecology and the affected communities, but to ensure that there will be positive effects for generations to come. Therefore, this essay will present a concept of sustainable post-mining that will help to manage risk and seize new opportunities. This concept will be of particular interest as there are more opportunities of post-mining than commonly known.

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