Last MinLand Network Meeting

On 17 September 2019, the Horizon2020 funded project MinLand held the Network of Experts on Sustainable Mineral Land Use meeting in Brussels. This was the last network workshop of the project which will finalise at the end of this year. The European Federation of Geologists (EFG) is involved in this project and it has an important role in the communication and dissemination of its achievements.

The meeting gathered experts in mineral land use planning to discuss about the challenges of the access to land for mineral exploration and mining in Europe. The event started with the presentation of MinLand by Project Coordinator Ronald Arvidsson and Nikolaos Arvanitidis, both from the Geological Survey of Sweden. Following this, the main outcomes of the project were presented by partners.

Nike Loudes, from the Geological Survey of Finland, presented the MinLand Case Studies and some of the highlights and good practices that can be learnt from them. EFG was responsible for designing factsheets on these case studies with the support of its authors. The promotional factsheets provide an overview of the most important aspects of the cases and can be found here and below in the post*. Sara Louise Gottenhuber from the Vienna University of Economics and Business presented the MinLand Good Practice Examples and the preliminary Mineral Land-Use guidelines of the project.

After this, participants were divided into 3 different groups to address the main challenges of the access to land for mineral exploration and mining: economic, environmental and social issues. Experts and stakeholders from the private and public sector contributed with their insights in the different round table discussions.

The final session of the meeting was an interesting panel discussion moderated by the EuroGeoSurveys‘ Secretary General Slavko Solar. The panelists from the public and private sector highlighted important aspects of the mineral land use planning in Europe.

More information about the project can be found here.

*MinLand Factsheets

Fäbodlidtjärn Gold Project

An example of Swedish Mining Policy

Ribera del Ebro, Navarra, Spain

Mining and environmental planning: balance between capability and vulnerability for mining

The Boliden Area, Sweden

Mitigation of impact of mining upon landscape

Nordland, Norway

Mineral resources in land-use planning in Norway

Mineral Planning for Lead and Zinc in Ireland

Life-cycle of three lead and zinc mines, at different stages, from exploration to rehabilitation

Czatkowice Limestone Mine

Mining activity in complicated environmental and spatial conditions

Kevitsa, Finland

Land use planning, social issues and natural and cultural areas

Mertainen

A case of mining and coexistence with other land uses

Baiso, Italy

A creation of a mineral route for the valorization of natural heritage and restoration of quarries

Portugal

Land-use planning methodology for the integration of mineral resources

Greece

Mineral and land use planning procedures with emphasis on best practice example of aggregate resources’ exploitation

Österreichischer Rohstoffplan, Austria

Austrian Mineral Resource Plan (AMRP) – policy making for sustainable mineral resource planning

SOMINCOR Neves-Corvo Mine

A metallic mine site at Natura 2000: A mine of biodiversity

Tokaj hills region, Hungary

Historic Cultural Landscape (UNESCO World Heritage)