Modified method for assessing the required expenditures and estimated time of hard coal mine liquidation

The restructuring of hard coal mining requires significant budgetary expenditures. A comprehensive scientific approach may facilitate the rationalisation and minimisation of mine closure costs. This study proposes a method for the preliminary estimation of the costs and time required for the potential liquidation of a hard coal mine. In addition to a literature review, a statistical analysis and a case study, personal interviews were conducted with individuals with direct management over the restructuring, reclamation and liquidation processes pertaining to mines undergoing closure. The assessment method is based on an analysis of the mine liquidation costs, divided into successive years of the course of the aforementioned processes. The method does not pertain directly to the specific liquidation processes conducted at SRK S.A., but it can also be employed by any entity conducting mine liquidation as a comparative tool for the detailed and multi-criterial estimation of the costs of planned mine closure.