Europe & CIS

Short-term risk reduction and long-term remediation and environmental protection measures for the Lojane Mine

Project Vision /Goals
The main objective of the project is to carry out a comprehensive environmental investigation, and based on that to recommend a short-term risk reduction and long-term remediation and environmental protection measures for the Lojane Mine. The project will have the following outputs: 1) determination of the quality of the environmental media in the area around the Mine, the flotation facilities, the open dump sites for flotation waste and the production facilities (approximately 10 km2); 2) determination of the quality/composition of the mining tailings/waste; 3) based on the findings from the investigation, proposals for alternative solutions (technical/technological) for remediation of the site with comparative analyses of each of the proposed solutions, accompany with related costs estimations; 4) the closure plan of the Mine.

Project Description
The Feasibility Study for Lojane Mine represents a first step within the targeted programme of the Environment and Security Initiative (EnvSec), a cooperation between UNDP, UNEP, OSCE and NATO, “Reducing Environment and Security Risks from Mining in South-Eastern Europe”, to decrease trans-boundary environmental and safety risk posed by sub-standard mining and mineral processing operations in the past, as well as to reduce the significant risk associated with non-operational, abandoned site where large quantities of physically and chemically unstable and poorly contained mine wastes are stored. It is a follow-up of the Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment conducted by UNEP in year 2000. The UNEP Report focuses inter alia on the country’s severely polluted “hot spots” sites that require immediate attention. During the mission, Lojane Mine was stated as one of the sites that could reveal as an environmental “hot spot”. The Mine is located north of Kumanovo, near the border with Serbia &Montenegro and Kosovo. Due its position near the border, the Mine was in one of the crisis areas that were most affected by 2001 conflict in Macedonia. Even before the conflict arose, the Macedonian police found an arsenal of illegal weapon hidden in the Mine.

Lojane was active in the period 1923 till 1979 when antimony and chromium were extracted. After the closure of the mine, the complete infrastructure i.e. the flotation facilities, the open dump site for flotation waste and the production facilities were abandoned without undertaking any conservation measures. As such, they are source of contamination with heavy metals and toxic compounds of the surface and underground water, soil and air. An additional problem related to the Mine is a very big amount of toxic mining tailings which are inappropriately deposited near the railway and the very frequent border crossing Tabanovce. According to the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning the dump site holds over one million tons of tailings containing arsenic, antimony and other hazardous substances. A soil sample taken at the edge of the dump during the UNEP mission found 8,093 mg/kg of arsenic which is over 50 times greater than the German threshold for arsenic in industrial soil. Contamination of the environmental media as a result of the operations of the mines is a severe problem in Macedonia. Also, the mines that are not operational are not properly closed. In the past decades, several mine accident occurred with enormous economic cost and impact on the environment. Most of the mines are near to the borders with the neighbouring countries Bulgaria and Serbia &Montenegro and they have impact on their environment. Due to that they are potential for hostilities and conflicts.

The project will focus on the assessment and determination of the quality of the water, soil and air, as well as the chemical composition of the deposited mining tailings. Within this activity, a comprehensive investigation and sampling program will be developed. This will include: hydro-geological and hydro-chemical analyses of the surface and underground waters; geochemical analyses of the soil; analyses of the impact of the mining dust to the air quality; analyses of the physical and chemical composition of the deposited mine tailings and the mining dust.

Comparative analyses of the identified remediation solutions/measures will be carried out, accompanied by the cost analyses related to each of the proposed solution/measures. Based on the national consultation with the relevant institutions and experts, the most appropriate measures will be selected. Also, a closure plan for the Mine will be developed.

The proper conservation of the Mine will prevent further contamination of the area and the impact from this on the neighbouring country. The primary beneficiaries of the Project will be citizens of the villages Lojane, Vaksince, Civluk, Tabanovce and the city of Kumanovo, which are located in the area under the consideration. At the same time, it will also have a positive impact on the relations between the national/local governments and the local citizens from the affected region, as well as between Macedonia and Serbia & Montenegro and Kosovo.

Project Phases
The outputs will be produced through the following activities:
1.    Selection of national consultant/consulting company
Involved in this activity, is also the task of identifying the subsequent implementer(-s) of the closure plan, and facilitating their involvement in the study work process.

2.    Collection on data on the site and assessment of risk levels
•    hydro-geological and hydro-chemical investigations and analyses of the surface and underground waters
•    geo-chemicals investigations and analyses of the soil
•    analyses of the impact of the dust on the air quality
•    quality/chemical composition of the deposited material

3.    Development of a Closure Plan
Proposals for alternative solutions (technical/technological) for remediation of the site with comparative analyses of each of the proposed solutions, accompanied with related costs estimations.

4.    Workshops for presentation of the Feasibility Study
In order to anchor the results of the study, and ensure that the Closure Plan is implemented, a regional workshop will be held to present the study, and a local workshop to inform the communities affected will also be held in the beginning of the project.

Through the implementation of the Feasibility Study, local actors will thus be identified for the implementation of the closure plan. As described, these actors will be involved in the Study, and their capacities to effectively close the mine will be developed. In the final activity of organising workshops, the closure plan will also be anchored among locals, facilitating its implementation. Funding for the implementation of the closure plan will be sought from EnvSec donors and partners, as well as environmental development trust funds.

Project Responsibilities
The project will be implemented under the Direct Execution modality (DEX) with full responsibility of the UNDP Country Office in Skopje, with backstopping from the UNDP Regional Centre in Bratislava (RBEC). Sub-contractors (specialized national institutions and expert) will be hired for specific inputs, and the Project activities will be closely coordinated with the Government i.e. the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning.

Project Deliverables
The main output of the project is a feasibility study for the Lojane Mine that will be focused on the following:
•    Assessment of the status of the environmental media (quality of the air, water, soil) in the area affected by the Main
•    Quality/ Chemical composition of the deposited mining tailings
•    Recommendation for short term risk reduction and long term remediation activities/measures
•    A closure plan for the Mine