Restoration of old mines in Cyprus
As already mentioned above, the permits of the old mines in Cyprus were given with terms such that the adequate restoration of the environment was not ensured (based on today's requirements) and with monetary or other guarantees that are not sufficient to achieve the desired outcome.
Based on the above, the restoration of the old mines is being studied so that, if deemed appropriate, it will be undertaken to the greatest extent possible by government funds. However, for the government to act in this direction, the ownership of the land where the mines are located should be ensured. The most important part in order to ensure an adequate restoration, is to prioritize, plan and obtain the necessary financial resources for the implementation of a restoration.
Today, a significant part of the scientific personnel of the involved Services regarding this matter, as well as significant amounts of money, are spent on the restoration of the Asbestos mine, which was noted to be the most urgent case of restoration of an abandoned mine. For the rest of the mines, limited-scale projects are being carried out aiming mainly for mitigating the effects resulting from their existence. Such projects are the fencing of excavations, the changing of stormwater direction in order to mitigate the effects of acid runoff, and the limitation of the tree planting in the area, which in most cases is not successful due to the acidic environment. It should be noted that a pilot seed planting program has been carried out at the Agrokipias mine, from which conclusions have been drawn for the other mines.
Already from the Study on the Sustainable Exploitation of the country's Mineral Wealth it has become clear that most of the abandoned mines should be subject to such environmental restoration as to highlight both the mining heritage of Cyprus and its very interesting geological structure, making thus attracting special groups of tourists. The filling of excavations appears to be prohibited with the exception of cases of mines that are not of particular geological interest and which may join specific types of waste. However, each case should be assessed individually to provide the optimum possible solution under the circumstances. However, it is worth mentioning that already, in some traditional mining communities (Katydata, Kalavasos), relevant museum areas are gradually being constructed, with government funds, which will be combined with the mines of each region.
Among other things, the Directive on the Management of Extractive Waste, 2006/21/EC, obliges Member States to record, evaluate and prioritize the environmental impacts resulting from the waste of abandoned mines located in their territory. In the final text of the Directive, it was expected that provisions would be included by the European Parliament that would impose on the Member States an obligation to take the relevant measures to avoid the above-mentioned effects, so in such a case, for the restoration work, there might be available European Union financial resources/funds.