Mining has been a part of Greek civilization since before 1,000 B.C when Greeks first began extracting industrial minerals and metals for use. In 2010, the mining industry was regulated by the Mining Code, Legislative Decree 210/1973, as amended by a number of laws and ordinances on technical and procedural issues, such as law No. 669/1977 on the exploitation of ornamental rocks and industrial minerals; law No. 428/84 as amended by law No. 2115/93 on the exploitation of aggregates; and the Regulation on Mining and Quarrying Activities including the Health and Safety Regulation on Mining and Quarrying. Greece’s mineral industry was also subject to the European Union (EU) Environmental Impact Assessment Directives, and the EU Mining Waste Directive 2006/21/EC (Hellenic Republic Ministry of Environment, Energy, and Climate Change, 2010, p. 16).