Book excerpt: This book is one of the outcomes of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop “Approaches to handling environmental problems in the mining and metallurgical regions of NIS countries” held in Mariupol, Ukraine on 5-7 September 2002. It include papers written by some of the leading specialists in the field of mining and metallurgy, and by environment specialists who are active in this sector. Readers will notice that some common environmental problems seen in the mining and metallurgical industries are described and that their influence on the health of the population are discussed. Examples of best practice in the field are given both from EU countries and from Central and Eastern European nations, especially from the Newly Independent States (NIS). Some of the latest technologies involved in the elimination of hazardous emissions, in sewage treatment and the handling of wastes in the metallurgical and mining industries are presented and we hope that they may open the way for more West-East, East-West and East-East technology and know-how exchange. In preparing this book, thanks are due to Marina Butorina, Linda Döring and Olaf Gramkow for their competent advice in respect of translations, lay-out and handling of the texts. We also grateful to NATO ́s Scientific Affairs Division for the support with the workshop, whose benefits are already being felt in both Mariupol and elsewhere in Eastern Europe.