Mine Waste Dumps
In early 2001, the Ministry of the Environment discussed with the Czech Geological Survey - Geofond the possibility of establishing a database of mine spoil tips. After consultation with professional organizations, the following definition was agreed: A spoil tip is an anthropogenic landform of permanent character, created by the accumulation of mine waste during extraction and mechanical processing of minerals and during operations carried out using mining techniques.
Spoil tips do not include:- Deposits of fertilizable soils and dumps intended for technical use in reclamation,
- Settling ponds containing slimes derived from the processing of ores, industrial minerals and combustibles,
- Ash and slag deposits,
- Communal waste deposits.
The database of spoil tips contains a summary registration of these objects over the whole territory of the Czech Republic. It is designed to provide essential data on the monitored spoil tips and on links to other objects of related character: mine workings, undermined areas, mineral deposits, mining leases and protected areas of deposits. The database thus supplements the range of available information about the environmental loads in areas affected by anthropogenic influences and also about land use and cultivation. The data have been acquired continuously since 2002. The Ministry of the Environment selects the individual areas (e.g., counties) for coverage and contracts professional companies directly to undertake the surveys. The information obtained is then transferred to the CGS-Geofond, where it is audited and included in the general database, which, in turn, forms a part of the complex information system. The database contains large amounts of specialized information on all objects, together with digital documentation in JPEG format, e.g., large scale maps and plans, photographs and sketches. Because of the relatively small extent of the areas so far covered, the spoil-tip objects are not shown on the maps of undermined areas or in separate maps.
Map and data outputs (tables) are available from: CGS - Geofond, Kostelní 26, 170 06 Praha 7, phone 233 371 190, fax 233 373 806, RNDr. Renata Kachlíková. More detailed information on individual spoil tips can be requested from the CGS - Geofond, Kostelní 26, 170 06 Praha 7, phone 233 371 190, fax 233 373 806, RNDr. Vít Štrupl