Knowledge of the key rules of brown coal deposit protection and use is essential for understanding mining companies’ approaches. However, the public does not have much experience with the use of these rules, which is probably due to the rapid development of the relevant legislation.
Under the Mining Act, minerals are divided into:
Reserved minerals, directly listed in the Act, include crude oil, gas, coal, ores and others. Generally, it can be said that the State is the owner of reserved minerals, whereas unreserved minerals belong to the owner of the land. If it is found (e.g. as a result of geological surveying) that reserved minerals occur at a site in a concentrated quantity, the Ministry of the Environment issues a Reserved Deposit Certificate.
Reserves in a reserved deposit are classified as follows:
Write-off of a reserved mineral deposit means:
Unworkable reserves in a reserved mineral deposit can be written off if such reserves are not expected to be exploited – not even in the future.
Protected mineral estate (PME)
A protected mineral estate (PME) is declared to protect a reserved mineral deposit against rendering its extraction difficult or impossible. A protected mineral estate is declared in the prospecting or investigation period after the Reserved Deposit Certificate is issued and is declared by the Ministry of the Environment together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the District Mining Office, upon agreement with the planning body and the Building Authority.
The definition of the working district (WD) is based on the results of the investigation of the deposit and it must ensure that the deposit can be economically extracted. Working district definition is based on the declared PME, taking the extraction of the adjacent deposits and the impact of extraction into account. (The boundaries of a surface mine are not necessarily identical with the boundary of the working district, and therefore it cannot be claimed that the mine must reach as far as the working district or the protected mineral estate). For extraction from a reserved deposit in a working district, the organisation needs, among other documents, a Mining Permit from the District Mining Office.
A Development and Working Face Advance Plan (DWAP) with all details specified in the relevant regulation of the Czech Mining Office must be prepared and submitted if a Mining Permit is to be issued.
List of Abolished and Transferred Working Districts and Protected Mineral Estates of the Czech Coal Group
26/1/1994 Havraň working district, abolished
5/10/1995 Loučná working district, abolished
9/10/1995 Hamr I u Litvínova working district, abolished
9/10/1995 Hamr II u Litvínova working district, abolished
12/12/1995 Souš I working district, abolished
4/1/2000 Háj working district, abolished
2/2/2000 Lom II working district, transferred to Důl Kohinoor a.s.
5/2/2001 Louka u Litvínova working district, abolished
20/7/2001 Proboštov working district, abolished
21/8/2001 Most working district, transferred to Důl Kohinoor a.s.
27/12/2001 Chomutov working district, abolished
8/3/2002 Pohradice working district, abolished
31/7/2002 Dolní Jiřetín working district, transferred to Důl Kohinoor a.s.
8/10/2002 Jeníkov working district, abolished
21/10/2008 Hrdlovka working district, transferred to Severočeské doly a.s.
22/4/2010 Lom I working district, abolished
Together with the effort to abolish unnecessary working districts, protected mineral estates are also abolished where the reasons for the protection of a reserved deposit have ceased to exist (in such cases, the PME is revoked) or where an application is filed to authorise another entity to protect and register a reserved deposit (in such cases the PME ceases to be under the Czech Coal Group’s management).
15/4/1996 PME Souš I, abolished
24/4/1996 PME Hamr I, abolished
24/4/1996 PME Hamr II, abolished
6/8/2007 PME Loučná, abolished
21/12/2007 PME Louka u Litvínova, taken over by Geofond
21/12.2007 PME Jeníkov, taken over by Geofond
26/3/2009 PME Chomutov, taken over by Geofond
26/3/2009 PME Polerady, taken over by Geofond
Development and Working Face Advance Plan
The main regulations governing mining operations are those of Act No. 44/1988 – the Mining Act and Act No. 61/1988 on mining, explosives and state mining authorities. An organisation is authorised to exploit a reserved deposit (including coal) if a working district is defined for it. A petition for the determination of a working district must be filed with the District Mining Office. To be able to file such a petition, an organisation must first obtain consent from the Ministry of the Environment. The Ministry of the Environment may make its consent dependent on certain conditions related to the uniform raw material policy of the Czech Republic. Such conditions, if any, are indicated in the District Mining Office’s Decision Determining the Organisation’s Mining District.
The working district is determined according to the results of the investigation of the deposit, including the extent, location, shape and thickness of the reserved deposit, taking into account the size of the coal reserves and the geological conditions, in order to ensure that the deposit can be exploited efficiently (i.e., the reserves in the deposit, including the accompanying minerals, should be extracted as completely as possible with the smallest possible losses and lowest possible pollution of the environment; it is prohibited to focus exclusively on the richest parts of the deposit). The determination of the working district is based on the protected mineral estate with due respect to extraction activities in the neighbouring deposits and to the impacts of mining. Before starting the exploitation of the deposit, the organisation that has acquired authorisation to exploit a reserved deposit on the basis of the Decision Determining the Organisation’s Mining District must draw up a Development and Working Face Advance Plan.
The Development and Working Face Advance Plan must ensure that the reserved deposit is developed and prepared well ahead of extraction and that the extraction takes place in an efficient and continuous manner, using appropriate mining methods and safe operating processes. The Development and Working Face Advance Plan must include calculation of the expected costs of the settlement of mining damage to be caused by the planned activities and the costs of the cleanup and reclamation of the affected land, including the amount of the funds to be committed for cleanup and reclamation.
The Development and Working Face Advance Plan should also include the following:
If any individuals’ or organisations’ property or interests are threatened by the exploitation of a deposit, the organisation must co-operate with them to address such conflicts of interests and propose a solution that enables to exploit the deposit while providing the necessary protection of the property and interest. Should the organisation and the owners of the property concerned fail to reach an agreement, or should the Regional Authority disagree with the agreement, if any, the decision on the conflict of interests must be made by the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade in agreement with the Czech Mining Office and with other central bodies, taking into account the opinion of the Regional Authority.
Together with an application for the Mining Permit, the organisation must submit its Development and Working Face Advance Plan, which must be approved by the applicant organisation’s mine manager. The District Mining Office will issue its Decision to Permit Mining according to the DWAP after checking the application for completeness and after settlement of any conflicts of interests, taking into account the conclusions of the Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA).
Any change to the DWAP, which does not worsen safety or health conditions and does not affect any property or interests of individuals or legal entities, should be acknowledged (once notified by the organisation) by the state mining authority (District Mining Office). The District Mining Office also performs regular physical inspections of how the organisation complies with the DWAP.
The DWAP is not a public document if the mining company declares that it is a trade secret within the meaning of the Commercial Code.
The Development and Working Face Advance Plan in the Surface Mines of the Czech Coal Group
Mining Permit for the ČSA surface mine at Ervěnice, based on the DWAP for the period of 2000 to 2014, was issued by the District Mining Office on 4 May 2000 under ref. No. 694/2000. The following parties to the proceedings were indicated in the Application for Mining Permit based on DWAP at Ervěnice for 2000 to 2014, filed on 20 August 1999: Local Council of Horní Jiřetín, Local Council of Vysoká Pec, Town Council of Most, Town Council of Litvínov, District Authority of Most, and Mostecká uhelná, a.s. (MUS). Issues related to consent with access to land were addressed ahead of time, for example, with the state owned company Doly a úpravny Komořany, s.p., and with the Road Administration and Maintenance Authority at Most. This DWAP involved no conflicts of interests with private persons (individuals).
As to the Vršany–Šverma Mine, the District Mining Office issued a Mining Permit based on this mine’s DWAP on 20 February 2002. The following parties to the proceedings were indicated in the Application for Mining Permit based on DWAP: Town Council of Most, the Local Councils of Malé Březno, Strupčice, Vrskmaň and Komořany, Doly a úpravny Komořany, s.p., (currently named PKÚ s.p.), the Road Administration and Maintenance Authority at Litvínov, České dráhy Praha (railway company), and five individuals, owners of land.
On 27 December 2010, the Most District Mining Office issued, for the further advance of the Vršany surface mine, the Mining Permit on the basis of DWAP of the Vršany surface mine, with access to the Slatinice working district; it was upheld by the Decision of the Czech Mining Office in Prague of 2 May 2011 on the basis of an appeal lodged by two parties to the administrative proceedings. Thus, at the Vršany site recoverable reserves amounting to 305.4 million tonnes can be produced from 2011 to about 2052.
Method of Identification and Buyout of Land in Mining Districts
Changes in the perception of private ownership occurred after 1989 and were influenced, among other factors, by the amended Economic Code (1990) and the amended Civil Code (1991). However, the most important and fundamental changes in the legislation covering this area arrived with the adoption of the Cadastral Act and the related regulations in 1992, in effect since 1 January 1993.
In this context, the mining organisation had to examine and clarify all ownership titles to real estate in the areas already affected by mining and to resolve any issues in this respect. The properties for which these relationships and ownership titles had been clarified and settled were privatised into the hands of Mostecká uhelná společnost a.s. in November 1993. In 2008, this company was divided under a proposal for division by spin-off with the establishment of new companies and, on this basis, a part of the real estate was transferred to the new successor companies: Litvínovská uhelná a.s. and Vršanská uhelná a.s., both based in Most. Subsequently, Mostecká uhelná a.s., Most was renamed Czech Coal Services a.s., Most and in July 2010 the real estate passed to new Coal Services a.s.
The real estate the title to which was not clear was left for addressing to Doly a úpravny Komořany s.p. (Komořany Mines & Preparation Plants, state enterprise), which has been renamed Palivový kombinát Ústí, státní podnik (Ústí Fuel Complex, state enterprise).
The existing rules and laws guarantee that the ownership issues are solved properly. The procedure also applies to the ownership titles in the extractive sector. The problems which come up during the solving the owner issues are not a result of this process but a result of applying the method of real properties registration and the general approach to ownership as such before 1989. Where the parties are unable to reach an agreement, the complaints, disputes and disagreements regarding the process of clearing and settling ownership titles are considered by courts upon a petition filed by any of the parties involved.
Protective Zones
The level of noise and the concentration of particulate matter emissions in the environment of the communities in the vicinity of the surface mines may be increased due to the mining operations. To prevent this, sanitary protection zones were established for the villages of Strupčice, Vrskmaň and Černice (part of Horní Jiřetín). The prescribed range of measurements is made on a regular basis to monitor the current levels of noise and emissions.
Horní Jiřetín
Strupčice
Vrskmaň
Types of Statutory Levies on Brown Coal Mining
The two key laws that cover mining (Act No. 44/1988 and Act No. 62/1988) lay down the obligation to pay for permission, prospecting for and surveying reserved mineral deposits, to pay for the working district and to pay an annual levy on the average market price of the mineral extracted:
Czech Coal Group
E-mail: ccg@czechcoal.cz
Czech Coal a.s.
Evropská 2690/17, 160 00 Prague 6
Tel.: +420 222 183 111
E-mail: info@czechcoal.cz
Residence:
V. Řezáče 315, 434 67 Most
