Comparative Analysis of Western and Russian Mineral Reserve Classifications

Despite that Georgia has signed an Association Agreement with the European Union, by today its geological-mining legislation has not been synchronized with European mining codes. Georgian Law on Earth’s Interior is a calque of the obsolete Soviet law with minimum updates. At the same time, development of the private mining business is hampered by olden standards of exploration reporting and estimation and approval of reserves, which also are vestiges of olden Soviet standards. The article analyses in-depth the Russian and the Western reserve reporting codes and proves that development of mining industry in Georgia calls for immediate legislative approval of the Western standards and foundation of the Competent Persons’ institute. Such actions will not only promote development of private mining businesses but harness the Georgian mineral resource fund to the betterment of the country.

The oldest gold mining law in Silesia

In Silesia, the beginnings of gold mining date back to the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries. The first attempt to legally regulate gold mining was the short mining act found in the municipal book of Lwówek Śląski, dated to the first half of the 13th century. In 1342 Dukes of Legnica, Wenceslaus I and Louis I, issued such a law for Złotoryja. These legal acts, particularly the one of Złotoryja, are the most important regulations regarding the medieval gold mining in Silesia. They relied on the local traditions and experiences; therefore, they feature no borrowings from the Czech or Saxon mining legislation. This can be explained with the “ancient” tradition of gold mining in the area of Złotoryja and Legnica, which allowed for development and establishment of native legal solutions. By ordering to write down such local rules, the dukes confirmed the individual mining traditions of their duchies, which was favourable from their perspective because the tradition pointed to exclusive right of the duke, without accounting for mining local governing bodies. This article presents the oldest legislation regulating gold mining in Silesia. It provides the Polish translation of the laws of Lwówek and Złotoryja, and discusses major rules in comparison to analogical legislation functioning in Bohemia.

Regulatory content of the category “safety of mining works”

Purpose.To study the main elements of mining safety, as well as to formulate the definition of the concept of mining safety for its use in legal regulations of mining relations from the viewpoint of scientific literature and the norms of current legislation. Methodology.The results were obtained after applying a set of methods: a) general philosophical methods (dialectical, anthropological);b) general scientific methods (abstraction, analysis and synthesis, system analysis, classification);c) legal methods (historical and legal, comparative legal, semantic and legal). Findings.Based on the analysis of the main categories of general security theory and their application in the legislation of Ukraine, the etymology of the legal term security is studied and it is shown that the definition of this concept depends on the context of the normative legal act in which it is used. This necessitates the improvement of the conceptual apparatus of mining legislation and the development of the category mining safety. It is argued that unification of this legal category and clarification of its authentic definition will contribute to the achievement of unity and consistency of the current mining legislation, the proper regulation of public relations to ensure protection of Ukraines national interests in the field of subsoil use. The necessity of expanding the list of possible hazards of geological study and subsoil use provided for by the current legislation was substantiated. It is proposed to consolidate the authors definition of mining safety in the corresponding paragraph of Article 1 of the Mining Law of Ukraine. Originality.As a result of lexical and legal analysis, it was concluded that the definition of security depending on the context of the legal act in which it is used and the characteristics of the subject of legal regulation of certain social relations is defined as: security; security status; provision (regulatory compliance); set of measures; aggregate of nonuniform resources. Taking into account the geospheric characteristics of subsoil, as well as the peculiarities of hazard occurrence and manifestation during subsoil use, the authors put forward a classification of hazards manifestation during mining operations (geomorphological, lithospheric, geodynamic, gas-dynamic, hydrodynamic, geopathogenic, microbiological hazards, as well as the hazards of mineral nanoparticles). The additions are substantiated to the current legislation (part 1 of Article 1 of the Mining Law of Ukraine) with the following definition of the safety of mining operations: protection of vital interests of a person, society and the state from negative manifestations of geomorphological, lithospheric, geodynamic, gas-dynamic, hydrodynamic, geopathogenic, microbiological and other factors in the course of processes aimed at carrying out, securing and maintaining mine workings and withdrawing mining rocks. Practical value.The practical significance of the results is based on the fact that they can be used by the subjects of legislative initiative when improving the provisions of the current legislation of Ukraine, as well as by practical workers to organize and conduct mining operations.

Women in mining: A conceptual framework for gender issues in the South African mining sector

New mining legislation aims to rectify previous inequalities and disadvantages in the mining sector and specifically provides for the inclusion of women in core mining activities. Although there is no lack of good will, the achievement of gender equality in the male-dominated mining sector remains one of the biggest equity challenges in the country and numerous problems accompany the deployment of women in core mining activities. The main objective of the study was to critically analyse gender issues in the mining sector and then to develop a conceptual framework that will enable the mining sector to contribute to and ensure the sustainable employment of women in this sector. A literature review was carried out to gain an in-depth understanding of the variables that have an impact on women in the mining sector specifically. An empirical study was conducted to identify and investigate relevant gender-related issues in the mining sector. Quantitative and qualitative research paradigms were used. The research revealed that various factors need to be considered for the successful and sustainable deployment of women in the mining sector. The study concludes by making recommendations and offering a conceptual framework that could be implemented and used by various stakeholders in the mining sector