Ecology

Iron ore mines ”Ljubija” a.d. Prijedor

At the Iron Ore Mines “Ljubija”, there are two production plants, as two potential polluters of the living and working environment.

Central mining sites – Ljubija

The beneficiation of ore at this facility is carried out by wet separation by washing and classification, whereby tailings separation sludge is separated. Sludge is deposited in the reservoir at the dam, where it settles, and the clean overflow water goes into regular waterways. Tests have shown that this water has the quality of well water, since it is not chemically polluted.

System for collecting used engine and hydraulic oil and oil separator

On the industrial platform of the Central mining sites, a service-drive workshop was built for servicing and intermediate repairs of machines and plants. In the process of servicing and repair, the oil in the machines is changed, and the old used oil appears as industrial waste. In order to prevent the old used oil from being thrown on open surfaces and waterways, a system was built for collecting used oil with tanks and a transfer plant. Collected oil from the tank is sent to the Oil Refinery in Modriča for recycling. When servicing machines, despite the built-in system for collecting old oil, a small percentage of oil is spilled during replacement. In order to collect the spilled used oil and prevent it from going into the Tomruci stream when washing the service platform, an oil separator was built. The oil separator was installed before the service platform drainage channel enters the Tomruci stream. In the separator, oils are extracted from the waste water and transferred to a tank, from where they are taken together with the used oil to the Modriča Oil Refinery for recycling.

East mining sites – Tomašica

Preparation of iron ore (no beneficiation) at this plant is done by drying and sieving. During the drying of ore, a larger amount of small ore particles are separated, which go into the atmosphere with flue gases. These ore particles are successfully captured by electrostatic filters, which is confirmed by the findings of the authorized institution, which regularly controls the emission of dust into the atmosphere. According to the findings of this institution, the concentration of emitted dust in the atmosphere is within the legal framework.

Recultivation

During the production and exploitation of iron ore in the area of Ljubija, the natural balance was disturbed, the environment and ecological system changed. The existing ecosystem in the surface mines was completely destroyed, and after the iron ore exploitation was completed, the degraded land was recultivated. Recultivation is a multi-criteria complex task that consists of a series of complex works aimed at restoring the productivity of damaged land, and improving environmental conditions. The relief of the degraded land, created by mining operations, the quality of the land, the climate of the area, the hydrology of the terrain and the ecology, also determined the way the reclamation works were carried out. The terraces of surface mines and tailings dumps were used for forest cultivation. At the location of the Central Mines in Ljubija, at the Nova Litica and Javorik open pits, the exploitation of iron ore was completed in 1972, followed by reclamation. Rock masses (shales, siltstones, limestones) remained on the surface of that degraded land.

That area of surface mines and landfills was planted with acacia, without applying a humus layer, which adapted very well to this substrate. Acacia greened these areas, a humus layer was created from the leaves, an acacia forest was formed in which the wood is exploited and its natural regeneration is carried out. At the “Tevanovići” surface mining pit, after the iron ore exploitation was completed, the process of recultivation began on the degraded land in 1985/86. and moved in the direction of afforestation with coniferous forest. On an area of 9 ha, seedlings of black, white, silver pine, spruce, larch, thuja, etc. were planted. At the same time, the Redak I and Redak II mining pits were reforested with coniferous forest on an area of 20 ha. Growing a forest on degraded land significantly improved the hydrological regime of groundwater, prevented erosion, a new layer of humus was quickly formed from the leaves, and all of this gave the environment a beautiful aesthetic appearance. After the end of the mining works in the area of Ljubija, six old mining pits remained that have no purpose. The undercuts were rehabilitated, and conditions were created for the start of mushroom production. The area of all six pits is 938.4, and the annual production in these facilities is about 36,000 kg of fresh mushrooms.