Within the framework of the abandonment of mining plants several legal, technical and economic aspects need to be considered and implemented in borehole mining. The activities of RAG Austria AG and their contractors are carried out according to the regulations, which are not only based on the legal foundation of the mining law, the borehole law, the water law and private arrangements but also on the background of the recommended practice of the RAG Austria AG. Firstly, the legal framework of exploration and production are briefly presented. If a well is not economical at the present or in the future, alternative opportunities for use will be considered. If there was no alternative possibility for utilization, a decision of well abandonment by RAG would be made through a memorandum. Therefore, this thesis deals with the legal requirements of well abandonment. In addition, the differences between the abandonment of an arbitrary well and the last well of a Gewinnungsfeld are outlined. The management of the public authorities differs widely because the abandonment of the last well within a “Gewinnungsfeld” needs permission through an approved “Abschlussbetriebsplan”. Additionally, the well abandonment and the renaturation measures of the RAG Austria AG are described and improvement possibilities are presented. Regarding pipelines, the removal and possibilities as well as the pulling of pipelines considering the economic and technical background are mentioned. As a result of a process visualization, the necessary operations are shown and the economic efforts can be made visible through the amount of working hours. Within the frame of this master thesis, liability rules are commented and a sustainable waste management related to the disposal of waste is described. The protection of the gathered data is of immense importance since the abandonment is to last for eternity and the utilization of the immediate surroundings is restricted. In addition, the legal differences, the requirements and the impacts on the management of the Austrian public authorities are compared to those of Germany. Due to the fact that in the borehole industry numerous non-abandoned mining plants exist on the German or rather the whole European onshore market, this results in an enormous potential of well abandonment. The data gathering for this thesis was accomplished through several interviews with experts from different special fields such as experts from mining authority, authorized experts (GUT), water law waste management and staff of RAG (construction management, well treatment, reservoir management, legal department and controlling).