Sustainable transformation of mining was a leading theme of the 6th Polish Mining Congress

On 24-26 September, the 6th Polish Mining Congress was held in Lublin and Bogdanka under the slogan 'GórnictwoPL2050 - raw materials, energy, transformation'. Piotr Litwa, President of the State Mining Authority, attended the plenary session, where he presented the tasks of mining authorities in the context of the transformation of the mining sector.

The President of SMA discussed the challenges mining authorities face in connection with the energy transition process. Moreover, he touched upon the issues of liability for mining damage, including the initiative to establish a Mining Damage Remediation Fund, the application of the EU Regulation on critical raw materials (exploitation of anthropogenic deposits) and the monitoring and enforcement of the European Parliament and Council Regulation (EU) on the reduction of methane emissions in the energy sector. He also emphasised the key role of the SMA’s Archive of Geological and Surveying Documentation in collecting the geological and surveying documentation of liquidated mining plants and providing public access to it.

The conference sessions focused on the legal problems of mineral resource exploitation, the revitalisation and development of post-mining areas, methane management in hard coal mining, new mining techniques and technologies, critical raw materials, and cybersecurity in the mining sector.