A team of experts from the University of Miskolc is playing a key role in an international effort to save the Parajd salt mine in Romania, which was catastrophically flooded in late May 2025. If successful, this would mark the first time in history a flooded salt mine has been preserved rather than collapsing.
The disaster occurred after the Korond stream swelled to more than 100 times its normal flow, breaching natural and artificial barriers and flooding the mine through multiple sinkholes. In response, Romania activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, resulting in a joint mission with engineers and scientists from Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain.
Dr. Balázs Kovács, Head of the Department of Engineering Geology and Civil Engineering at the University of Miskolc, and Dr. Márton Tóth from the Institute of Water and Environmental Management, assessed the structural damage and evaluated long-term stabilization strategies. Their findings revealed that 4–7 million cubic meters of brine now fill the mine’s chambers, forming a dense, salt-saturated solution that is paradoxically helping to support the mine walls and prevent collapse.
Despite some near-surface collapses, the team believes that modern monitoring technologies and controlled water management could allow the mine to be stabilized. Long-term solutions include rerouting the Korond stream to prevent further freshwater infiltration, which would otherwise continue to dissolve the salt structures.
Though full restoration is unlikely, the experts see the possibility of reopening parts of the mine for tourism or limited operations, similar to the lower-level lake attraction at the Turda salt mine. Environmental risks remain, especially concerning brine outflow, but the natural clay barriers around the salt dome are currently containing most of the brine.
Dr. Kovács emphasized that with 21st-century technology and careful intervention, the Parajd mine could defy global precedent and become a model for future mine preservation efforts.
Source: University of Miskolc
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