Operating life of a mine lasts from a few years to several decades. Mine closure occurs once the mineral resource is exhausted, or operations are no longer profitable. Mine closure plans are required by most regulatory agencies worldwide before a mining closure permission is granted, and must demonstrate that the site will not pose a threat to the environment and health of the society in future. The article describes a new tool, the brownfields methodology, which can help to promote the revitalization of old mining areas as a part of their technological modernization and subsoil full extraction with environmental damage reduction.

In recent years, the mining industry has achieved an important position in the national economy due to its increasing productivity. However, since 2000, there have been signs of a slowdown, resulting from the national and local conditions of the mining industry. It is for these reasons that we have concluded that this type of industry must be assessed not only from the economic but also from the national and regional sectors, because the performance of the mining industry is directly affected by the value of mineral deposits and the structure of other industries. The present paper aims to analyze the development of the mining industry in Slovakia, in comparison with similar development in chosen European Union countries. Slovakia has been considered as a country with mineral resources and mineral-based products representing an important part of Slovakia’s foreign trade, with the significant imported mineral resources including mainly mineral fuels and ore raw materials. The development of the mining industry is assessed from the economics through the growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) and through the national aspect through the rate of growth of the national economy. The aspects are evaluated by the multi-criteria method Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), with which we evaluated the country with the best mining industry development. The results of detailed quantitative analyses of the selected indicators for mining industry development for individual European Union countries show a fluctuating trend during the observed period, which is characterized by development disparities. Such results can be used to determine raw material policies in the relevant countries.

E3S Web of Conferences, open access proceedings in environment, energy and earth sciences

Mineral resources are life and driving force of the European Union. It is gaining awareness not only in the EU dependent on imports, but also in the world. In the context of the growing population and the growing demands of economies for natural resources, this type of material management has a significant negative impact on the environment. The main aim of the study was to justify the model of circular economy on the national level, based on the disparities between the regions of Slovak republic. To meet the objective, mostly one-factor analysis was implemented. The circular model, which is based on the partial replacement of primary raw materials by secondary ones, should, on the one hand, limit the depletion of natural resources and, on the other hand, reduce the amount of waste produced. The presented work focuses on the issue of sustainable development, which is closely related to the circular economy, and then explains the circular economy model, including the differences from the linear arrangement and possible obstacles to its implementation for the specific conditions of the Slovak republic. From the results, it is clear that the proposed circular model would be helpful to improve the inefficiencies and disparities on the regional and national level.

Uranium is one of the strategic minerals used mainly in energetics. The main purpose of uranium mining is to achieve maximum production to meet the rapidly growing demand for energies. It needs to become aware that technological progress in mining processes could significantly reduce the negative impacts associated with environmental, economic, and social risks. Uranium mining is one of the most controversial topics. It is dealt with by many experts and scientists around the world. Various methods and technologies of uranium mining are encountered in professional journals, as well as political or socio-economic decisions based on the impact and importance of the energy potential of uranium deposits, or the environmental impacts of uranium mining. The deposit of Kuriskova is one of the most perspective deposits not only in Slovakia but also in the world. The deposit is located near the town of Kosice (with near 240,000 inhabitants) and near the recreational area of Jahodna in the east of the Slovak Republic. The analysis and determination of the energy potential of the deposit of Kuriskova shows that uranium reserves from this deposit would be able to fully cover the needs for nuclear power plants for the production of nuclear fuel, in the Slovak Republic, even in the longer term. With the above-mentioned energy potential of the deposit of Kuriskova at the level of 600 TWh, nuclear power plants in the Slovak Republic are able to be supplied with raw materials from the deposit of Kuriskova for about 40 years with the current amount of electricity produced (approx. 15 TWh). Therefore, for the purposes of this research, a proposal for the extraction of uranium reserves at the deposit of Kuriskova was made. Based on it, it is possible to determine the amount of recoverable uranium reserves from the deposit. A methodology has been determined with mining this proposal, which takes into account the basic criteria of uranium deposit mining, which was used for the selection of a suitable mining technology for the uranium deposit of Kuriskova.

Is it really necessary for the more than 200 million tons of municipal waste produced by the EU to end up in landfills? Nowadays, there are many methods for using the raw materials and energy potential of waste in ways that are economical and environmentally acceptable. But first it is necessary to understand what waste is being produced, the possibilities for recycling, and the amount of waste deposited in landfills. Many studies show that, with the ever-increasing standard of living, which is accompanied by increasing consumption as well as increasing waste production, increasing separation of waste is a positive trend. However, it is essential to realize that many materials cannot be recycled indefinitely. Therefore, in our research, we focused on reducing the share of waste that goes into landfill with the goal of zero waste to landfill, so as to increase recycling and the amount of energy obtained from waste. We focused on the analysis of waste production in individual EU states, using the available data for the years 1995–2019. For a more detailed analysis, EU countries were evaluated in terms of individual waste management processes, according to available statistical data. We found that Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, and Austria put the least amount of waste into landfills, which means that they obtain the most energy and raw materials from waste.