Mining & mineral resources

A significant proportion of demand is met by extracting mineral resources from domestic deposits. Mining operations often conflict with competing claims to the land used for mining. Careful integration of mining operations into regional planning, land use planning and urban development planning is therefore just as essential for legally compliant operations as compliance with the requirements for dealing with the specific hazards of mining laid down in mining and excavation law.

We advise companies and mining authorities alike on all issues relating to mining and excavation law. This includes, in particular, the preparation and approval of operating plans for the exploration, extraction and processing of mineral resources in accordance with the Federal Mining Act, as well as the application for and granting of permits in accordance with the excavation laws of the federal states, and the legally compliant disposal of mining waste, e.g. by disposal in above-ground or underground disposal facilities or by backfilling of exhausted open-cast mines, and finally ensuring the proper design of the areas used for mining after the end of mining activities, including the development and implementation of concepts for sustainable and innovative reuse. The close links between mining and excavation law and waste law, water law and emission control law are covered by our expertise in these areas.

In addition, we have extensive experience in dealing with the consequences of mining and the resulting hazards, namely in clarifying civil liability for mining damage and mining-induced vibrations, as well as in dealing with abandoned mines, i.e. underground cavities that have often been abandoned for many decades or even centuries, whose location and condition are often unknown.