Project Partners

TEXMIN project consortium, leads by Główny Instytut Górnictwa (Central Mining Institute) in Katowice, gathers partners:

from Poland:

  • Central Mining Institute (GIG)
  • Silesian University of Technology (SUT)
  • Spółka Restrukturyzacji Kopalń S.A (SRK)
  • Tauron Wydobycie S.A. (TWD)

from United Kingdom:

  •  University of Exeter (UNEXE)

from Greece:

  • Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH)

from Spain:

  • Subterra Ingenieria, S.L. (SUB)

from Germany:

  • DMT GmbH & Co. KG (DMT)

from Czech Republic:

  •  Výzkumný ústav pro Hnědé Uhlí (VUHU)

 

 

 

Central Mining Institute (GIG) is a public research institute subordinated to the Minister of Economy whose mission is to provide advice, expertise and scientific research in aspects of mining and environmental engineering. GIG is one of the most acknowledged partners in such areas of activities as environmental monitoring and programmes of sustainable development of municipalities and regions. In addition, GIG edits the scientific Journal of Sustainable Mining which covers topics related to environmental protection of industrial areas; safe waste disposal and post-mining land reclamation. The journal is directed to the international scientific community interested in key problems of the contemporary mining industry, providing information about the direction and effects of research conducted in a range of mining sciences.

GIG has extensive experience of acting as partner and co-ordinator of EU Programmes and RFCS projects. Currently GIG is involved in 16 RFCS Projects (5 coordinated by different departments of GIG). The following divisions will be involved in TEXMIN project:

1) the Department of Extraction Technologies And Mining Support with specialist expertise on geomechanics and rockburst hazard. They have a range of numerical modelling codes (UDEC, Phase, Flac, PFC, RS3, Cosmos, Ansys, Solid Works) and their own developed empirical methods and unique equipment.

2) The Department of Water Protection, comprising a multidisciplinary team of scientists in the area of land, water and rainwater management, redevelopment processes of post-mining and post-industrial areas, as well as sanitary and environmental engineering, including flood protection (e.g. strategies of adaptation for changes in the frequency and range of extreme events). The team focuses on sustainable revitalisation and regeneration of brownfields and urban industrial areas, sustainable reclamation of mine sites for post-mining use and management of groundwater.

University of Exeter (UNEXE), the College of Engineering, Mathematics & Physical Sciences, incorporates the Camborne School of Mines (CSM), one of the world’s oldest and most famous mining schools. Staff from CSM have been involved in co-ordinating and partnering in a number of previous RFCS projects and have core research strengths in geomechanics, health and safety and environmental and social impacts of mining.

Staff from the College lead the University’s “Climate Change & Sustainable Futures” research theme. This brings together leading research experts from wide-ranging disciplines across the University to understand the many and various factors that contribute to climate change and to develop solutions. The College works in close partnership with the UK Met Office and a number of academic staff contributed to the 5th IPCC Report, four as lead authors. In addition, Exeter is home to the Environment and Sustainability Institute which is a £30 million interdisciplinary Centre leading cutting-edge research into solutions to problems of environmental change.

Silesian University of Technology (SUT) is one of the biggest technical universities in Poland and conducts research activities into many mining environmental issues such as air protection, environmental protection, mining technologies, and the aspects of mines closure. These aspects are connected with gas emissions from closed mines and gas/dust emissions from coal waste dumps and disposals. The Faculty of Mining and Geology has partnerships with all Polish mines (coal, lignite, zinc, copper etc.). It leads to a great number of conducted projects, approved patent right and published scientific papers. Silesian University of Technology has been involved in different RFCS projects, including INDIRES (since 2017).

Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), Greece is the largest research centre in Northern Greece and was founded in March 2000. CERTH is a non-profit organization that directly reports to the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT), of the Greek Ministry of Development. The mission of CERTH is to carry out fundamental and applied research with emphasis on development of novel products and services of industrial, economic and social importance in the following fields: i) Chemical and Biochemical Processes and Advanced Functional Material ii) Environmental Friendly Technologies for Solid Fuels and Alternative Energy Sources iii) Informatics and Telecommunications iii) Land, Sea and Air Transportation iv) Agrobiotechnology and Food Engineering v) Biomedical Informatics, Biomedical Engineering, Biomolecular Medicine and Pharmacogenetics. CERTH is a self-supported Research Centre generating an average annual turnover of ~ € 22 Million with more than 600 people working with the majority being scientists. CERTH has participated successfully in more than 1.000 competitive research projects financed by the European Union (EU), leading industries from USA, Japan and Europe and the Greek Government via the General Secretariat of Research and Technology (GSRT). The Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute (CPERI) operates at CERTH and was established by the merger between Chemical Process Engineering Research Institute and Institute for Solid Fuels Technology and Applications. It is the main Greek organization for the promotion of research and technological development aiming at the improved and integrated exploitation of all types of fuels and their by-products.

Some indicative projects of CPERI, sponsored by FP7 and RFCS, close to the rationale of the current proposed project, include: RISCS, R&Dialogue, Novelties on CCS, UCG-CO2, MANAGER etc. The Institute also successfully completed technological projects (e.g. COMEX, ENCAP, C2H, ASSOCOGS, EMACE, Impact of Communication), as well as policy projects (FENCO – ERA.Net).

Subterra Ingenieria, S.L. (SUB) is a private engineering company working on geological & geotechnical projects (mining, civil and hydroelectrical projects) with special expertise in underground excavations and geotechnical engineering during the design and the construction stages. Today it has active mining projects in five countries and four R&D projects related with mining, tunnelling and geological risks; with active connection with research and academic institutions. The group employs a staff of over 50 people and has 6.5 M€ of annual revenues. The staff of the Company have participated in 18 R&D projects as coordinator and main researcher (7 ECSC,8 RFCS, 1 BRITTE, 2 EURATOM and 1 CDTI).

DMT GmbH & Co. KG (DMT), headquartered in Essen, Germany, is an independent engineering and consulting company, active at international scale. DMT employees, most of them engineers, scientists and technicians, provide services in the form of individualised consulting and assistance. 

DMT’s Geo Engineering & Exploration division has extensive expertise in mine planning, rock mechanical assessment, testing and monitoring as well as engineering services and offers these services worldwide. DMT has contributed to various European research programs, dealing mine water flow, genesis and quality. DMT has experience from many RFCS/ECSC projects inter alia: FLOMINET, WATERCHEM, UCG & CO2 STORAGE, MINFIREX, IMPREX, EMIMSAR. DMT staff features expert knowledge in model development, reactive mass transport, geochemistry and mine water management.

DMT is an important contractor of the German coal mining company RAG and has undertaken many studies and tasks in the Ruhr and Saar area. DMT can access experience from many projects concerning water management and mine water quality prognosis. DMT has maintained a database for mine water inflows, mine voids, shafts and discharges over many decades.

Výzkumný ústav pro Hnědé Uhlí (VUHU) is the only research and support institution dedicated to the open-pit surface coal mining in the Czech Republic. The institute closely works with all the open-pit mines in the North-Western Bohemian coal basin providing the broad spectrum of specialised supporting activities with expertise in geomechanics, technical diagnostics, design and construction of smaller mining technologies, certified laboratories focused on coal and all coal by-products. The company’s two main shareholders are the biggest mining company operating in the North Bohemian Basin – Severočské doly a.s. – running the Bílina and Tušimice mines and Vršanská uhelná a.s. – running the Vršany mine.

The technicians, research workers and project managers of VUHU are in nearly daily contact with sites which will be extensively used for data and as case studies in this project. Project outputs are published in the Czech Republic as well as abroad in the form of expert articles and lectures. Research results are presented on the domestic and international conferences and in the proceedings of these conferences. VUHU also publishes the specialised technical journal – Zpravodaj hnědého uhlí, focused on the presentation of the research and development results. 

Spółka Restrukturyzacji Kopalń S.A (SRK) is a mine restructuring company, engaged in liquidation of underground workings and shafts, preparation of dewatering plans, mine closure plans and post mine closure monitoring and maintenance, with particular regard for any post-closure de-watering requirements. SRK has been involved in few RFCS project, currently in METHENERGY PLUS and STAMS.

Tauron Wydobycie S.A. (TWD) is an important producer of power coal in the eastern part of the Silesian Coal Basin, southern Poland, controlling approximately 20% of Polish hard coal resources. Technologies developed in Tauron Wydobycie S.A. concern excavation of hard coal, flotation enrichment, aggregate production, and mitigation of environmental impact. TWD has participated in the GEOSOFT and MANAGER international projects financed by RFCS, and now is involved in taking part in another RFCS project: CEReS.