Mine clearance, or demining, is the detection, removal and destruction of landmines and other explosive ordnance so that land can be used safely. It covers humanitarian demining, which returns land to communities, and commercial demining, which secures land, routes and sites for infrastructure, energy, extractive and construction projects. DEMINETEC delivers both, together with unexploded ordnance (UXO) and ERW clearance.
Mine action components
Mine action, as defined by the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS), comprises survey and clearance (demining), explosive ordnance risk education, victim assistance, stockpile destruction and advocacy. A demining company mainly works on the first pillar, but its survey data, clearance records and handover documents feed the national mine action database and the land release decision.
Survey: non-technical and technical
Non-technical survey (NTS)
Collection and analysis of information without entering hazardous areas: interviews with local populations and authorities, military records, accident and incident reports, aerial and satellite imagery. NTS defines confirmed and suspected hazardous areas and cancels land with no evidence of contamination.
Technical survey (TS)
Physical intervention with detectors, mechanical assets or sampling lanes to confirm the presence, type and limits of contamination and to reduce areas before full clearance.
Clearance methods
Manual demining
Deminers working in marked lanes with metal detectors and prodding or excavation tools, following the clearance depth set by the national standard. It remains the reference method on difficult ground and in vegetation.
Mechanical demining
Flails, tillers and armoured excavators prepare ground, remove vegetation, and process soil, generally followed by manual or detector verification. Machines are effective on large areas but do not replace verification.
Detection technologies
Metal detectors, dual-sensor detectors combining metal detection and ground-penetrating radar, magnetometers for deep ferrous items, and explosive detection dogs where accredited. For deep bombs and large-calibre UXO, DEMINETEC uses magnetometer and electromagnetic UXO surveys.
Battle area clearance (BAC)
Systematic surface and subsurface clearance of UXO, AXO and submunitions in former combat areas where mines are not expected.
Commercial demining for projects
For developers and EPC contractors, mine and UXO risk is managed like any other ground risk: desk study, survey of the footprint and access routes, clearance to the depth required by foundations and trenches, and EOD watching brief during works. Typical scopes include roads and railways, pipelines and power lines, solar and wind farms, airports, ports, mining concessions and camps. Clearance certificates are issued per area and depth so that construction can proceed under the contractor's safety management system. See pyrotechnic safety for construction.
Standards and legal framework
Operations follow IMAS and the national mine action standards of the host country, under the authority of its national mine action centre or authority. Relevant instruments include the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (Ottawa), Amended Protocol II and Protocol V to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, and the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions. In France, clearance linked to construction works falls under decree 2005-1325 as amended (see regulation).
Frequently asked questions about mine clearance
What is the difference between humanitarian and commercial demining?
Humanitarian demining aims to return land to communities and is usually funded by donors or national programmes under a national mine action authority. Commercial demining clears land, routes or sites so that a specific project (road, pipeline, power line, solar or wind farm, mine, airport) can be built and operated safely. Both use the same survey and clearance techniques and generally follow IMAS-based national standards.
What is land release?
Land release is the IMAS process of cancelling suspected hazardous areas through non-technical survey, reducing them through technical survey, and clearing what remains, so that land is released on the basis of evidence rather than clearance of every square metre.
What is battle area clearance (BAC)?
Battle area clearance is the systematic clearance of areas affected by unexploded ordnance and other explosive remnants of war where mines are not expected, typically former combat zones and bombed sites.
Are mines included in explosive remnants of war (ERW)?
Not in the strict sense of Protocol V (2003) to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, which defines ERW as unexploded and abandoned explosive ordnance. Mines are covered by Amended Protocol II and, for anti-personnel mines, by the 1997 Ottawa Convention. In practice, contaminated areas often contain both and are treated with the same procedures.
Does DEMINETEC carry out mine clearance abroad?
Yes. DEMINETEC works in France and internationally on survey, UXO and mine clearance, risk assessment and stockpile management, alone or with partners, and reports to clients and national authorities in English or French.
See also the UXO and EOD glossary and our UXO clearance and EOD services. To discuss a project, contact DEMINETEC.