minerals Article Assessment of Geotourism Values and Ecological Status of Mines in Kopaonik Mountain (Serbia) Danijela Vukoiˇci´c 1,* , Radomir Ivanovi´c 1, Dragan Radovanovi´c 1, Jovan Dragojlovi´c 1, Nataša Marti´c-Bursa´c 2 , Marko Ivanovi´c 1 and Dušan Risti´c 1 1 Faculty of Sciences, University in Priština-Kosovska Mitrovica, Lole Ribara 29, 38220 Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia;
[email protected] (R.I.);
[email protected] (D.R.);
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[email protected] (D.R.) 2 Faculty of Nature and Mathematics, University of Niš, Višegradska 33, 18000 Niš, Serbia;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +381-66-800-6426 Received: 30 January 2020; Accepted: 6 March 2020; Published: 17 March 2020 Abstract: Abandoned mines can pose a major environmental hazard. At the beginning of the 21st century, significant steps were taken all around the world in order to protect these historically valuable complexes, and the mining heritage was recognized as a potential for the development of alternative tourism. This exploration covers mines in the Kopaonik Mountain area. Mining on this mountain began in ancient times. It has developed throughout history, and today only one mine is active. Three abandoned (Gvozdac, Suvo Rudište and RaiˇcevaGora) and one active mine (Belo Brdo-Zaplanina) are the subject of research. The basic aim of the research is twofold. The estimation of geo-tourist values was performed using the Geosite Assessment Model (GAM), and the ecological status assessment WAS performed according to the standard model based on negative and positive values.