Mongolia - Environmental protection in Mining III
Country / Region: Mongolia / Central Asia
Focal point: None
Begin of project: September 1, 2005
End of project: March 31, 2015
Status of project: April 30, 2015
Participants at mine reclamation and closure conference 2013 at a placer gold mine site in Zaamar, Central Mongolia
Source: BGR
The Mongolian mining sector is an important economic sector in the country. However, with the growing mining activities since the 1990s also the impacts by mining on the environment as well as the pressure on the usage of the country’s limited natural resources were increasing constantly. Another challenge is inadequate waste and pollution management, which can lead to a contamination of the environment. These aspects endanger the livelihood and health of the local populations in the surroundings of mining areas.
Despite existing legal instruments and regulations, environmentally responsible mining and rehabilitation of depleted areas were not always adequately implemented. Which was mainly due to the mining industry’s insufficient expertise, limited efforts undertaken to protect the environment, constrained government control mechanisms and insufficient expertise of the state mine inspection. The project activities contributed significantly to the observed improvements and increased awareness in the communities and the mining companies over the last years.
Project partner was the General Agency for Specialized Inspection (GASI) and the project cooperation between BGR and the Department for Environment, Geology and Mining Inspection in GASI at national and regional level started in September 2005, was implemented over 3 periods until March 2015 (the last period from 12/2012 until 03/2015), and had a total budget of 3 Mio €.
The overall objective of the project was to improve the environmental protection and the state control in mining. To work towards that goal the support focused on:
- Capacity Development and training;
- Modern methods and instruments for efficient and transparent mining inspection, including supply with modern technical equipment;
- Enhancement of legal framework for environmental protection in mining
Technical Cooperation with Mongolia
Project-No.: 2012.2179.5
Project-ID: 1090
Project contributions:
- Geology and Mining Inspection System (GMIIS) - Mongolei
- Geology and Mining Inspection System (GMIIS) - Mongolia
Partner:
General Agency for Specialised Inspection (GASI)