Guest Editorial

This special issue follows on work and results presented in the 12th Symposium on Environmental Issues and Waste Management in Energy and Mineral Production, held in the heart of Europe, Prague, the Czech capital city in the early summer 2010. It attracted worldwide participants coming from more than 25 countries. In view of the highly topical nature of this international symposium, the interest from Asia was particularly welcome, showing a growing respect for environmental issues such as the use of nature resources, achievements in land reclamation and the creation of new landscape in this new economically emerging world.

The selection of Prague to hold this symposium was both obvious and fortunate. The tradition of mining raw materials in the Czech Republic is one of the oldest in Europe. For example, in 1300, a codified mining law Ius Regale Montanorum wasissued; it served as a model for other Central European mining laws. Also, the historical development of Czech mining districts is very important: from the Middle Ages mostly silver, tin and also gold ores were exploited, in the 19th century the importance of pyrite, iron and uranium ores rapidly grew. And then coal mining became a specific industry, which is until now the reliable base of the country's energy production and energy supply safety.

The articles presented there proved that reclamation standards addressed the entire environmental regeneration, including post-mining land use strategies. At present, reclamation design is based on deep knowledge of the past functioning of landscapes in affected territories and encounters the new research findings and reflections of the mistakes done to the landscape in the past. The mining closure is dealt with within a systematic approach to the formation of new landscapes embracing not only the mined and dumped localities, but the surrounding landscapes as well, so that they regain the capacity to fulfill both environmental and social needs.

The holistic concept of dealing with environmental aspects of mining is covered by the articles in this special issue. We are glad they reflect the attitude of researchers from Asia, America, and Europe, and also involve a young generation of authors, one of whom, A.D. Jacobs, was among the awarded young authors at the Symposium.