Progress and prospects of mine water management in the former East German Uranium Mining Province

摘要

Uranium mining operations conducted from 1945 through 1990 in the East German uranium province had left behind mining legacies of unprecedented dimensions.When designing holistic remediation concepts for five mine and two mill sites the mitigation of adverse impacts to downstream water courses was of key importance. Therefore, remedial work was focused on concentration, conditioning and encapsulation of solid mine waste to ensure the minimization of contaminant fluxes in the long run.