A guide to leading practice sustainable development in mining

MINE: Former lignite mines
LOCATION: Ruhr and Saar valleys Germany
BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Surface lignite mining
AREA OF LEADING PRACTICE: Rehabilitation; closure and completion;
heritage preservation
HANDBOOK(S) REFERENCE: Mine Rehabilitation; Mine Closure and Completion
DESCRIPTION OF INNOVATION:
For more than hundred years hard coal from domestic production was a basis
for industrial success in Germany. But nowadays because of relatively high
production costs hard coal mining in Germany seems not to be capable of
competing on the world market any more. In 2007, the German government
decided to stop financial support for the coal mining industry from 2018. This
led to a final mining closure program.
The German hard coal mining company RAG is supporting the restructuring
process in the coal mining regions of the Ruhr and Saar valleys through the
adaptive reuse of former coal fields. RAG together with state institutions and
local municipalities aim at activating a sustainable development in the mining
towns. Mine closure is seen as an opportunity to change both industrial and
urban structures in a future-oriented way. Instead of industrial waste land,
former mining areas shall become vital places, instead of an economic decline,
former mining towns shall prosper.
In order to create opportunities for future-oriented long-term employment,
new, innovative businesses require a good infrastructure: offices, commercial
real estate, comfortable and aesthetically pleasing housing, as well as
recreational areas and cultural facilities. RAG is using its real estate expertise
to help the former coal mining regions progress towards this goal. Such
efforts are of particular benefit to would-be owners of small- or medium-sized
businesses.
The sites of former coal mines often make optimal facilities for logistics
service providers with an eye on the future, although these sites must be
centrally located and be within easy reach of roads, canals and railroad
networks. One such site is the 9.7-acre Fürst Hardenberg Logistics Center
in Dortmund, built jointly by the RAG Montan Immobilien development
corporation and the logistics concern Fiege. In addition to the space occupied
by the distribution center of a multinational tyre manufacturer, an additional
5.7 acres of logistics space have been leased by a textile discounter and an
industrial bread bakery. Five additional logistics centers along the same lines
of this ‘success story’ are currently in the planning stages for other projected
sites in the Ruhr. Companies from other sectors such as the contracting
industry, construction equipment rental, and construction machinery are also
doing business on the former coal mine sites developed for reuse by RAG
A GUIDE TO LEADING PRACTICE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN MINING 151