Sustainable development refers to the development of a business in such a way that future

generations will be able to satisfy the same needs. This article describes how sustainable

development can be measured by economic performance and a positive impact on the natural

environment. A general indicator of a company’s environmental impact is presented in the

article. It can be determined, on the one hand, by a company’s environmental impact, and on

the other hand, by savings in the use of natural resources, which is associated with savings

in a financial sense. Therefore, it can be used to analyze the progress of sustainability in

terms of environmental and economic performance. The case study provides an example of

how emissions and energy factors can be analyzed to form a synthetic indicator and create

a general indicator.

This work is a continuation and extension of previous socio-economic analyses of hard coal mines, which were conducted at the Central Mining Institute in the years 2013-2015. The paper presents the results of the economic evaluation of the hard coal mining sector in the years 2016-2018 using the Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) methodology. Used for the socio-economic assessment of hard coal mining, the CBA methodology enables the comprehensive evaluation of the functioning of this sector of the economy in Poland. In addition to financial aspects, which are important from the point of view of coal companies, it also included the social and environmental influence resulting from the impact of mines on the environment. Direct data of operating costs and payments (including public-law payments), incurred by the hard coal mining industry in Poland, was used. This data is obtained by Industrial Development Agency JSC, Branch Office Katowice as part of the “Program of statistical surveys of official statistics” – statistical survey “Hard coal and lignite mining industry”. They were supplemented with data coming from commonly available public statistics. For the analysed period the presented results indicate that the financial and social benefits resulting from the hard coal mining activity in Poland outweighed the financial, social and environmental costs generated by this industry. This confirms the desirability of further functioning of the hard coal mining industry in Poland, however, assuming effective restructuring activities that will result in lower costs of coal production.

The article presents results of an input-output data inventory and life cycle assessment (LCA) for individual wastewater treatment plants (IWWTPs), considering their whole life cycle, including the stage of construction, use and end-of-life. IWWTPs located in the area of a medium-sized town in Poland, were assessed from a systemic perspective. The research was conducted basing on actual data concerning performance of 304 individual wastewater treatment plants in Żory. Environmental assessment was conducted with ReCiPe and TRACI methods. Greenhouse gases (GHG) emission, eutrophication, fossil fuel and metal depletion were calculated. The LCA was conducted basing on ISO 14040 standard with SimaPro 8 software and Ecoinvent 3 database. The system boundary ranged from cradle to grave. It was shown that, at the construction stage, GHG emission depends on the amount of used cement, polyethylene, concrete, PVC and polypropylene. At the use stage, the GHG emission is determined by the sewage treatment technology and application of a bio-reactor in IWWTPs. At the construction stage, the fossil fuel depletion is determined by the amount of used polyethylene, PVC, cement, polypropylene and concrete; while the metal depletion is determined by the amount of used stainless steel, copper and cast iron. Data inventory and LCA of IWWTPs are presented for the first time. Conclusions of the work may support decisions taken by local governments concerning wastewater management in their area and promote and support solutions of high ecological standards.

The major downside of blasting works is blast vibrations. Extensive research has been done on the subject and many predictors, estimating Peak Particle Velocity (PPV), were published till date. However, they are either site specific or global (unified model regardless of geology) and can give more of a guideline than exact data to use. Moreover, the model itself among other factors highly depends on positioning of vibration monitoring instruments. When fitting of experimental data with best fit curve and 95% confidence line, the equation is valid only for the scaled distance (SD) range used for fitting. Extrapolation outside of this range gives erroneous results. Therefore, using the specific prediction model, to predetermine optimal positioning of vibration monitoring instruments has been verified to be crucial. The results show that vibration monitoring instruments positioned at a predetermined distance from the source of the blast give more reliable data for further calculations than those positioned outside of a calculated range. This paper gives recommendation for vibration monitoring instruments positioning during test blast on any new site, to optimize charge weight per delay for future blasting works without increasing possibility of damaging surrounding structures.

Blasting cost prediction and optimization is of great importance and significance to achieve optimal fragmentation through controlling the adverse consequences of the blasting process. By gathering explosive data from six limestone mines in Iran, the present study aimed to develop a model to predict blasting cost, by gene expression programming method. The model presented a higher correlation coefficient (0.933) and a lower root mean square error (1088) comparing to the linear and nonlinear multivariate regression models. Based on the sensitivity analysis, spacing and ANFO value had the most and least impact on blasting cost, respectively. In addition to achieving blasting cost equation, the constraints such as fragmentation, fly rock, and back break were considered and analyzed by the gene expression programming method for blasting cost optimization. The results showed that the ANFO value was 9634 kg, hole diameter 76 mm, hole number 398, hole length 8.8 m, burden 2.8 m, spacing 3.4 m, hardness 3 Mhos, and uniaxial compressive strength 530 kg/cm2 as the blast design parameters, and blasting cost was obtained as 6072 Rials/ton, by taking into account all the constraints. Compared to the lowest blasting cost among the 146-research data (7157 Rials/ton), this cost led to a 15.2% reduction in the blasting cost and optimal control of the adverse consequences of the blasting process.

Mining activities from exploration to final material handling up to shipment pass through various stages where environmental pollution results. Mining method can and should be selected in such a way that their impact on individuals and environmental to be minimized. Until now, different mining specialists have carried out many studies on mining method selection. Unfortunately neither of previous approaches takes into account of the environmental consideration and methodology for assessment of environmental impacts criterion. This paper discusses environmental impacts of mining operations associated with different mining methods. For this purpose, the Folchi approach was modified for environmental impact assessment which associates the mining methods inherently and developed of a procedure to assist a selecting of mining method. Firstly, the general and explanatory information about effects of mining on the environmental pollution are given in the paper. Moreover field and purposes of the study are introduced. The paper presents an environmental assessment for different mining methods. And, secondly, the impacts of each mining methods on environment are focused and discussed. Finally, some concluding remarks are made and the related applications for the mining method selection are discussed by using in a case study. As the main advantage, this new algorithm takes several environmental issues and their interaction takes into consideration for environmental assessment of a mining method selection.