Long tradition of ore mining in Czech Republic coming to end
The Czech lands have a long history of ore mining, with the first attempts dating back to the Stone Age. Although the Czech Republic's metal deposits have not been exhausted, its mining industry is being phased out. The last operating uranium mine will be closed down in two years. A comprehensive study called "Ore and Uranium Mining in the Czech Republic" has just been published; the study looks back at the history of mining in the Czech lands and describes the evolution in mining technology, as well as the impact of mining on the environment. According to its authors, all prominent mining experts, the book is something of an epitaph to the Czech mining tradition.
After the economic situation changed dramatically after the fall of communism, mining of ores proved unprofitable to this country and the onetime flagship industry started to decline. Jan Kafka, the deputy director of the state company Diamo, a successor of the Czechoslovak Uranium Industry company, is the editor of the 650-page book "Ore and Uranium Mining in the Czech Republic", which was a joint effort of 79 authors.
"Ore mining in the Czech Republic was discontinued in 1994. Today the mines are closed down. As for uranium, its extraction was discontinued everywhere and now cleanup operations are underway. There is only one active mine - in the Rozna mine in the Czech-Moravian Highlands, and it is being phased out. Mining will be discontinued there in 2005."
Uranium has a negative reputation in this country - not so much because of its use in the nuclear industry, but because many communist-era political prisoners were forced to labour in uranium mines and many died or suffered from illnesses related to exposure to radioactive material. Although technically speaking, uranium is an ore as well, Jan Kafka explains why the book distinguishes between ore and uranium mining.
"It should be said first of all that uranium mining is part of ore mining but after 1945 uranium was considered a very important military and strategic material, and there was a lot of secrecy around it. This specific history produced an individual field in its own right - uranium mining, which survived until 2000. That's why we chose to separate ore and uranium mining in the period between 1945 and 2000."
The impacts of extensive mining, mainly of coal, on the landscape are apparent in many parts of this country. Did the authors of the book also pay attention to cleanup and restoration of the landscape?
"The book dedicates a special chapter to the impact of mining on the environment and it suggests solutions. However, there are not descriptions of specialised and technical procedures connected with the cleanup after mining. That would be a whole new book."
The glory days of ore mining in this country, when mining towns mushroomed and the king Premysl Otakar II. was called the King of Iron and Gold, are gone forever. But have ore mines in Bohemia and Moravia been closed down for good or is there a chance of them being reopened one day? Jan Kafka, the editor of the book "Ore and Uranium Mining in the Czech Republic".
"Of course there are still ore reserves in the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic has large uranium deposits and especially metal ore deposits. But time will tell; it depends on the economy and commodity prices around the world."
