Majdan is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Gornji Milanovac Gornji Milanovac ( sr-Cyrl, Гoрњи Милановац, ) is a town and municipality located in the Moravica District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 23,109, while the population of the municipality is 38,985 (2022 census data). ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. According to the 2002 census, the village has a population of 513 people.

Lake Majdan

In 1953 a

tailings dam A tailings dam is typically an earth-fill embankment dam used to store byproducts of mining operations after separating the ore from the gangue. Tailings can be liquid, solid, or a slurry of fine particles, and are usually highly toxic and poten ...

was built in order to accumulate the byproducts of the nearby

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

mine. It separates the flotation reservoir from the valley of the Despotovica river, which flows through the town of Gornji Milanovac ( downstream), and from the

Ibar Highway State Road 22, commonly known as Ibar Highway ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Ибарска магистрала, Ibarska magistrala), is an IB-class road, connecting Belgrade with Šumadija and Western Serbia and finally with Montenegro at Špiljani border cro ...

. The dam was built on the small stream of ''Rudnički potok''. The lake is not open for public use.Flotation lake on Rudnik, Penzin, 18 December 2013
/ref> The lake is long, wide and covers an area of . The tailings is a result of 264,000 tons of ore which is being treated yearly in the mine: lead, zinc, copper and traces of silver. Considering the burst of the dam as a potential catastrophe, since the tailings would flood Gornji Milanovac, the dam has been upgraded in time. It is fit to survive the earthquake of the 9.0 magnitude on

Richter scale The Richter scale (), also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale, is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Richter in collaboration with Beno Gutenberg, and pr ...

. In 2013 a devices for early notification in case of the quake were installed and are directly connected to the state seismology institute. During the major

2014 Southeast Europe floods Between 13 and 18 May 2014 a low-pressure cyclone designated ''Tamara'' and ''Yvette'' affected a large area of Southeastern and Central Europe, causing floods and landslides. Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina suffered the greatest damage, as t ...

, the lake accumulated additional of water, which would otherwise flood the town. The flood wave from the slopes of the Rudnik mountain was slowed and effectively prolonged in 5 days instead of sweeping at once. The treating apparatus allows for the clean water to be let through the dam into the Despotovica river. Several projects are being developed. In 2018 a new system for evacuation of the water in case of emergency will be installed, while by 2023 a new plant will be built which will further treat the wastewaters.

References

Populated places in Moravica District {{MoravicaRS-geo-stub