The primary objective of the protocol is to establish and develop several scientific methodological procedures applicable to the design and selection of a suitable mine dewatering management plan. A significant challenge and contribution of the research lies in the initial hypothesis, which posits the feasibility of organizing a multidisciplinary team to collaboratively determine the optimal solution for long-term mine dewatering. Protection against groundwater is a highly complex hydrogeological challenge, particularly in mining operations. Mines are inherently dynamic systems, constantly expanding both horizontally and vertically, from the very beginning of mining, also reaching significant depths. Given the inherent uncertainty in geologic systems, such as ore deposits, the entire dewatering process requires continuous “learning” and hierarchical problem-solving. Addressing these complexities involved forming a team of experts, leveraging their knowledge and experience, as well as several methodological procedures based on applied mathematics in geosciences and mining engineering, such as numerical modeling and simulation, fuzzy optimization and decision analysis. These circumstances necessitated continual adjustment to evolving operating conditions and prompted the development of a protocol for effective dewatering planning and mineral ore protection against groundwater. Such a protocol generates alternative mine dewatering solutions and considers their individual characteristics. Additionally, it defines and analyzes multiple criteria for evaluating the solutions and selecting a method that ensures optimal decision-making. The applied methods constitute a holistic system, represented by a single protocol, which includes an interdisciplinary approach to creating sustainable groundwater management strategies.

Surface mining of coal has a negative impact on the environment that needs to be prevented, reduced, controlled, monitored by applying the management of technological processes of technical and biological recultivation after the end of exploitation works. The paper deals with the problem of multi-criteria decision-making in the process of selection of indicators that have an impact on the choice of purpose of recultivated terrain after the end of coal mining. The considered reclamation solutions represent possible alternatives. Degraded areas need to be returned to their original purpose, they should be in the function of environmental protection of the natural environment and settlements near this location. In addition, various criteria and sub-criteria that affect the choice of the most favourable solution were defined and analyzed. The final decision on land use after exploitation was made based on mathematical calculations using the multi-criteria VIKOR method.

The selection of the optimal equipment for discontinuous haulage systems is one of the most important decisions that need to be made when an open-pit mine is designed. There are a number of influencing factors, including natural (geological and environmental), technical, economic, and social. Some of them can be expressed numerically, in certain units of measure, while others are descriptive and can be stated by linguistic variables depending on the circumstances of the project. These factors are characterized by a high level of uncertainty, associated with both exploration and mining operations. The experience, knowledge, and expert judgment of engineers and specialists are of key importance for the management of mining processes, consistent with the issues stemming from the dynamic expansion of open-pit mines in space over time. This paper proposes an integrated model that translates all the criteria that affect the selection of the optimal solution into linguistic variables. By employing the multiple-criteria decision-making method and combining it with fuzzy logic, we developed an algorithm that addresses all the above-mentioned uncertainties inherent in various mining processes where the experience of experts forms the basis. The fuzzy analytic hierarchy process is used in order to deal with trending decision problems, such as mining equipment and management system selection. The entire algorithm was applied to a real case study—the Ugljevik East 1 open-pit mine.

When solving real problems, and to make a quality decision, it is necessary to consider a great number of often complex parameters. For these reasons, the development of decision-making process modeling has seen significant growth in recent years, and multi-criteria optimization models have stood out among them as useful for solving complex and conflicting phenomena. Multi-criteria optimization models make it easier for decision-makers to find the optimal solution in situations where there are many different criteria, which can often conflict with each other. The choice of the appropriate method of exploitation of mineral deposits follows the consideration of the problem and the approach to further development, which is primarily the determination of the criteria that influence the choice of the optimal alternative.

Mine site reclamation is a relevant step in maintaining ecological balance after mining activities. Although mining activities provide many economic benefits, they often have a negative impact on the environment. These environmental problems require effective and sustainable solutions. To minimize the effects of mining, environmental management is obligated to stabilize the land, so it is productive after mine closure and leads to the best possible purpose. Regulatory authority sets out the criteria for reclamation to be accomplished by the mine reclamation program such as compliance, land re-contouring, revegetation, and final completion.

As the global population grows, we are witnessing rapid urbanization and the development of industry and agriculture. Novel, largely toxic substances are being used in agriculture to improve yields. All of this has led to the generation of large amounts of pollutants that need to be disposed of and treated. Irresponsible behavior and discharges into nature and river channels not clearly defined by law or sanctioned, certainly have an environmental impact. The Drina River Basin occupies parts of the territories of four countries. It is one of the most important drainage areas in the West Balkans. It calls for international cooperation in many areas, such as public water supply, irrigation, hydropower generation, and the like. However, in order to achieve such cooperation, all the countries that “steward” the resource need to commit to water quality conservation and protection. The DPSIR approach proposed by the Water Framework Directive of the European Union is followed to identify major pressures (pollution sources) in the Serbian part of the Drina River Basin. The pressures are grouped into several categories and described in detail.

Technoeconomic, environmental and safety criteria generally affect the management of metallic and non-metallic mining operations. The first basic question that needs to be addressed when planning ore mining is which methods are adequate and what is the optimal mining technology? Due to the complex geologic framework of ore deposits, geological exploration has rendered synonymous the inherent uncertainties, vagueness, and inaccuracies. As a result, subjective evaluation by engineers and expert experience have become increasingly important. Given that the natural language used by miners and geologists is most suited for relaying knowledge and expressing opinions, the paper tests a fuzzy optimization methodology that uses linguistic variables. Consequently, extent analysis is applied to fuzzy AHP by means of triangular fuzzy numbers to arrive at a decision about the optimal mining technology. The entire procedure constitutes an integrated mine management system, which will contribute to sustainable production in the future. A case study to which the model was applied is presented in the paper.

The selection of the most appropriate underground mining technology is not a simple process because it involves handling of a large amount of information about several potential methods. Multicriteria optimization approaches are proven useful tools for ranking alternatives, especially in cases where multiple complex criteria have to be considered simultaneously. An ore deposit is a complex system because of its geology, physical and mechanical properties, and hydrogeological conditions. As such, problem solving requires a heuristic approach and includes tasks involving expert judgement, intuition, estimation, and experience. Using a heuristic strategy to state a problem means that the analyst is placed in a position to apply past experience to a future situation and existing knowledge to new circumstances, as well as discover new avenues to creative problem solving. A complex algorithm was developed to pave the way to quality management of mining, by using the VIKOR method to rank various mining technologies relative to a set of criteria and select the optimum mining method that will primarily ensure profitable and safe mining.

This paper explores the use of microgrids during cold-load pickup (CLPU) phenomena, which are typical after an outage in distribution networks with high share of ther-mostatically controlled load (TCL). We present a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) formulation for scheduling service restoration (SR). The proposed model computes the optimal re-connection sequence, generation and storage levels for the microgrids as well as power supply level from the main grid. The model is tested on different modifications of the IEEE-13 feeder network. The proposed approach is suitable for practical SR scheduling and to test the CLPU capabilities of a distribution network during the planning process.

The arrival of modern protection relays on distribution networks offers us an excellent opportunity to better understand the performance of network protection and to efficiently identify coordination problems. The analysis of relay event reports helps establishing the source of unnecessary relay protection tripping. In this work, the analysis of measurements of digital over-current relays is conducted. The case study is focused on performing a macro level analysis of protection coordination on Hydro-Québec's distribution network. Additionally, a characterisation of short circuits has been performed. A list of observations followed by recommendations for improvement of relay protection strategy in distribution networks is presented using the results of this case study.