(Correction: Number in third paragraph, more than 98 (not 96) percent. The ministry has corrected the figures).

DÜSSELDORF/ERKELENZ (dpa-AFX) - The state of North Rhine-Westphalia sees no obstacles to further mining for the time being because of the ownership of the Garzweiler opencast lignite mine. All areas designated for mining until the end of 2023 are owned by RWE or have been ceded to the company for use, the NRW Ministry of Economics announced Monday in response to a dpa query.

Antje Grothus, a Green Party member of the state parliament, had pointed out last week - even before the clearance of Lützerath was completed - that RWE did not own all the areas earmarked for mining. She had therefore asked for a halt to the clearance and for the open pit mine to be rescheduled.

RWE Power also owns more than 98 percent of the land for the period after 2023 until the end of 2025, and purchase, exchange or lease negotiations are underway for the rest, the ministry explained, citing information from the company. It is not unusual for negotiations with individual landowners to be ongoing in the run-up to open pit mining. If expropriation were actually necessary, the ministry explained, there were long-established procedures for this, in which the mining authority had sufficient experience.

The main Garzweiler operating plan for lignite mining is valid, the NRW ministry emphasized. For this, the applicant company does not have to already be the owner of all the land at the time of approval./rs/DP/men