European waste characterisation standards for the prevention of acid/neutral rock drainage

The importance of mining in most european countries has declined in recent decades, but mining has the potential to re-emerge as the backbone of the economy in many countries of central and eastern europe. exploration for minerals is also active in scandinavia, the Balkans and on the rim of europe. in the aftermath of the aznalcóllar (april 1998) and Baia mare (January 2000) accidents, the european commission published a "communication on the safe operation of mines" including two significant actions - the development of a "Best available Techniques" document on the management of tailings and waste rock; and the development of european directive 2006/21/ec on the management of waste from the extractive industry. When finalising the directive, there were some open questions regarding waste characterisation methods. The directive therefore calls for european-wide standards in waste characterisation, which are now being prepared by the european committee for standardisation (cen) as mandated by the european commission. strong links between the cen and the international standards organisation (iso) are likely to be the vehicle by which new european requirements impact the industry globally. This paper will report on the preparation of the new standards, including the outcomes of two international workshops on acid generation behaviour; a comprehensive review of existing standards, the development of guidelines for kinetic testing, sampling and overall understanding of mine-waste characterisation processes; and the validation of a preliminary european norm (pren 15875) on static testing for determination of acid potential and neutralisation potential of sulfidic waste.The cen will work on the standards until early 2012. during this period the industry would be well advised to follow progress closely and to provide input where appropriate.