| Stage of the mine lifecycle |
Activities in each stage |
Environmental factors |
Environmental costs |
| Starting up |
Choosing geological area |
Obtaining a concession for exploitation. |
Costs of obtaining a concession.Cost of environmental studies.Alternative costs of changing the plans in a case of deposit locations in protected areas. |
| Recognizing the deposit |
Identifying the natural and geological hazards. |
Costs of geological and environmental expertise.Costs of forecasting the consequences of natural hazards for environment.Costs of projecting the ways of protecting the environment from the consequences of natural hazards. |
| Projecting the coal mine |
Choosing the way of excavation (underground or open-pit). |
Alternative costs of resignation from the underground exploitation which is usually less harmful for environment but causes a high decrease of mining production costs.Costs of social dialogues and negotiations. |
| Protection of underground and surface facilities and ecosystems |
Identifying methods to prevent deformation of surfaces and pollution of water, air and soil. |
Costs of projecting and implementing environmental protection methods such as: drainage systems, pillars, sewage treatment plants, waste management systems, etc. |
| Building the mine |
Selecting the way of building the mine and carrying out construction works. |
Costs of building all environmental protection systems.Local, regional and national environmental fees. |
| Exploitation |
Mining of minerals |
Current water, air and soil protection.Liquidation of mining damages (Choi, & Song, 2017). |
Environmental fees.Cost of supporting environmental systems.Costs of mining damages liquidation.Costs of compensations.Costs of subsidizing construction in the mining area. |
| Mechanical and/or chemical processing |
Waste generation (Maheshi et al., 2015c).Waste storing. |
Costs of recycling and utilization.Costs of waste transportation, storage and limitation its negative influence on ecosystems. |
| Transportation of minerals |
Choosing the way of transport. |
Costs of environmental friendly logistics (for example developing own railway transport).Costs of prevention of polluting access roads. |
| Storage of production waste (Roessler, et al., 2017) |
Choosing the method of waste management (Maheshi et al., 2015b). |
Costs of recycling and re-industrial use.Costs of environmental-safe packaging and storage. |
| Liquidation |
Liquidation of infrastructure |
Management of liquidated assets. |
Costs of restoration of the pre-mining landscape. |
| Protection of mining excavation |
Long-term protection of ecosystems. |
Costs of protection of the excavation against collapsing and flooding. |
| Protection the surface |
Revitalization and reclamation. |
Costs of revitalization and reclamation.Long-term costs of mining damages liquidation and compensations. |
