Green Mining, Waste Recovery and Efficient Disposal of Metal Mines

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 5832

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Civil and Resource Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
Interests: solution mining (copper sulfides leaching; ore agglomeration; microbial succession of bioleaching; flow behavior in heap leaching, etc.); paste backfill
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil and Resource Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
Interests: solution mining (heap leaching; flow behavior; in-situ leaching, etc.); backfill technology (paste backfill, cemented backfill, etc.); rock mechanics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Metal minerals such as copper, rare-earth ores, uranium and gold are intimately related to intelligent manufacturing, electric engineering, commercial building, nuclear power and other fields, providing vital basic metal resources. The green mining of metal ores refers to mining technology that employs solution mining (copper sulfide heap leaching, rare earth in situ leaching, uranium in situ leaching, etc.), cemented/paste backfilling and other processing technologies in order to achieve the recovery of metal minerals and the efficient disposal of mine wastes. With unique advantages, such as low levels of waste discharge, low infrastructure costs, efficient mining and waste disposal, green mining is considered to be a crucial research direction for the future development of metal mines.

This Special Issue, entitled “Green Mining, Waste Recovery and Efficient Disposal of Metal Mines”, is organized into the following three sections:

Sections 1: Chemical/bio- leaching of low-grade precious metallic minerals (copper sulfide ores, rare-earth ores, sandstone uranium ores, etc.)—includes leaching kinetics, the reaction interface, fluid flow behavior, pore structure characterization, mass transfer, reaction passivation, bacterial succession, (bio-) heap leaching, in situ leaching, stirring leaching, and column leaching.

Section 2: Green mining and mine waste disposal using cemented/paste backfill technology—includes the thickening (using deep cone thickener, etc.), stirring (using horizontal stirring, etc.), and pipeline transportation (loop pipe test, etc.) of paste/cemented backfilling slurry preparation using mine wastes, flocculant, cement and other cemented materials, as well as paste tailing stacking.

Section 3: Multi-physical field, multi-phase coupling problems in the green mining of metal mines— includes multi-dimensional in situ detection (such as micro- CT, MRI, ERT, SEM-EDS, etc.), theorical analysis, mathematical coupled modeling, simulation (using Fluent, COMSOL, FLAC, etc.) considering the multi-physical field (thermal, hydraulic, mechanic, chemical, and bacterial physical field), and multi-phase study (solid, liquid, and gas).

This Special Issue, entitled “Green Mining, Waste Recovery and Efficient Disposal of Metal Mines”, aims to provide a useful reference for industrial engineers and research scholars particularly involved in mining engineering, metallurgy engineering, minerals processing and materials science, among others.

Dr. Leiming Wang
Prof. Dr. Shenghua Yin
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • advances in chemical/bio-heap leaching of copper sulfides
  • basical theory and industrial cases of cemented/paste backfill using mine wastes
  • in-situ chemical/bioleaching of rare earth, uranium, etc.
  • multi-physical fieldand multi-phase coupling problem in green mining process
  • simulation and mathematical modeling of green mining procedure
  • rock mechanic features and mechanisms caused by mining in metal mine

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 12372 KiB  
Article
Oxide Reduction Treatment with a Thermal Plasma Torch: A Case Study
by Mohammed El Khalloufi and Gervais Soucy
Minerals 2024, 14(5), 443; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14050443 - 24 Apr 2024
Viewed by 1058
Abstract
This article presents the findings of a study on oxide reduction utilizing a novel reducing plasma torch, employing greenhouse gases such as CO2 and CH4 as plasma gases. The primary aim of this investigation is to establish the viability of this [...] Read more.
This article presents the findings of a study on oxide reduction utilizing a novel reducing plasma torch, employing greenhouse gases such as CO2 and CH4 as plasma gases. The primary aim of this investigation is to establish the viability of this approach. The innovative plasma torch was employed to reduce various oxides, including aluminum oxide, iron oxide, and titanium oxide, as well as a mixed oxide composition, employing a CO2/CH4 molar ratio of 1:1 within a spouted bed reactor. Following plasma treatment, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was conducted to examine the metallic phases, notably titanium, iron, and aluminum. SEM–EDS observations were carried out to assess microstructural changes and identify elemental compositions pre- and post-plasma treatment. The results demonstrate that within the conical section of the reactor, titanium oxide experiences partial reduction, resulting in limited titanium production, while aluminum oxide and iron oxides (magnetite and hematite) undergo reduction to yield aluminum and iron, respectively. Thermodynamic calculations, performed using Factsage software version 8.3, were utilized to predict stable-phase formations following plasma treatment for each material. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Mining, Waste Recovery and Efficient Disposal of Metal Mines)
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13 pages, 4159 KiB  
Article
Clarification of Mining Process Water Using Electrocoagulation
by Oscar Joaquín Solis-Marcial, Alfonso Talavera-López, José Pablo Ruelas-Leyva, José Alfredo Hernández-Maldonado, Alfonso Najera-Bastida, Roberto Zarate-Gutierrez and Benito Serrano Rosales
Minerals 2024, 14(4), 412; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14040412 - 17 Apr 2024
Viewed by 1418
Abstract
A lack of fresh water is one of the most significant problems currently affecting humanity. Water scarcity also affects industries, with the mining industry being one of the most affected. One possible solution to water scarcity is the recirculation of water. Water in [...] Read more.
A lack of fresh water is one of the most significant problems currently affecting humanity. Water scarcity also affects industries, with the mining industry being one of the most affected. One possible solution to water scarcity is the recirculation of water. Water in mining is usually treated with physicochemical methods, but in metallurgical processes, reagents are added, accumulate until reaching the point of saturation, and are often not successfully removed. In this sense, electrocoagulation has shown great efficiency in the treatment of organic contaminants, heavy metals, and metallic ions, and was applied in this study to eliminate ions and undesirable organic compounds present in mining–metallurgical process water. Furthermore, this process has shown great efficacy in relation to toxic metals like arsenic because their presence reduces the efficiency of other processes such as flotation. In this study, two types of electrodes were used: stainless steel and aluminum. The best results were achieved with stainless steel electrodes, which were able to eliminate 90% of copper ions in water. The turbidity of the water during the process was measured to determine the amount of solid present in the water, and a reduction of around 95% was observed when using aluminum electrodes. The sedimentation of clots occurred in two stages: Firstly, the coagulant was formed to trap organic matter as its size increased, until a particle size that was sufficient for settling was achieved. A zero-order kinetic model was fit for this stage of the process. Secondly, the formed clots continued to settle, and a second-order kinetic model was fit for this stage. Flotation tests were carried out on the process and electrotreated water to evaluate the recovery of Zn, Pb, Ag, and Au. An increase of 1.5% was found for gold, and an increase of 2% was found for silver, while a significant improvement was identified for zinc, augmenting recuperation by 30% when electrotreated water was used. For lead, no considerable change in recovery was observed in either form of water. The formed clots were analyzed using Scanning Electronic Microscopy, and we found that metal ions were trapped in the clots. This study demonstrates the potential of electrocoagulation for clarifying mine water, which is ordinarily very difficult to clarify. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Mining, Waste Recovery and Efficient Disposal of Metal Mines)
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15 pages, 8647 KiB  
Article
Numerical Study of Gangue Slurry Deposition Behavior in Pipelines Considering Viscosity Change
by Wei Gu, Yunqing Wang, Dalong Xu, Kuo Miao, Sumeng Yao, Hao Zhang and Zhenfei Han
Minerals 2024, 14(3), 318; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14030318 - 17 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1139
Abstract
Pipeline conveying is a crucial method for realizing gangue slurry filling. In order to avoid the blockage of gangue slurry in pipeline conveying, it is necessary to clarify the deposition behavior of gangue particles in the pipeline. This paper analyzes coal gangue’s microstructure [...] Read more.
Pipeline conveying is a crucial method for realizing gangue slurry filling. In order to avoid the blockage of gangue slurry in pipeline conveying, it is necessary to clarify the deposition behavior of gangue particles in the pipeline. This paper analyzes coal gangue’s microstructure and mineral composition in the Zhaozhuang No. 2 coal mine through electron microscope scanning and X-ray diffraction tests. We studied the viscosity characteristics of gangue slurry at different mass concentrations and particle sizes and analyzed the change rule of viscosity of gangue slurry with time. Based on determining the nature of the slurry material, a simulation analysis of the deposition behavior of the gangue slurry in a pipeline was carried out using the coupled fluid dynamics–discrete element (CFD-DEM) method. The results show that gangue slurry with a particle size larger than 1.0 mm is likely to lead to the blockage of the pipeline. A small increase in viscosity will promote a uniform distribution of particles inside the pipeline. The deposition behavior of particles is jointly influenced by gravity, fluid interaction force, inter-particle force, and the interaction between particles and the pipeline surface. The research results can be used as a reference for the design and study of gangue slurry grouting systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Mining, Waste Recovery and Efficient Disposal of Metal Mines)
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15 pages, 4986 KiB  
Article
Impacts of Surface Deformation Induced by Underground Mining of Metal Mines on Above-Ground Structures: A Case Study
by Peizheng Liu, Hui Li, Leiming Wang and Shenghua Yin
Minerals 2023, 13(12), 1510; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13121510 - 30 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1322
Abstract
The surface deformation caused by underground mining seriously affects the normal life and personal safety of local residents and also causes unfavorable factors for the safe and efficient exploitation of underground resources. While the study of surface deformation caused by underground mining of [...] Read more.
The surface deformation caused by underground mining seriously affects the normal life and personal safety of local residents and also causes unfavorable factors for the safe and efficient exploitation of underground resources. While the study of surface deformation caused by underground mining of metal mines requires a large amount of measured data as support, the measured data is particularly scarce, which severely hinders the study of surface deformation caused by underground mining. In this paper, in order to study the impact of underground mining on surface structures in metal mines, we take the Fu Lao Zhuang Iron Mine in Anhui Province, China, as the research object and put forward a comprehensive measurement method based on the flat plate beam theory. Using empirical formulas combined with the methods of thickness-to-span ratio and the relaxation coefficient, etc., we carry out numerical simulation calculations for the displacement of the surface triggered by the mining of the ore body by using FLAC3D software. We calculate the maximum inclination deformation, curvature, and horizontal deformation values of the ground surface by referring to the displacement and deformation with reference to the displacement and deformation formula; the maximum tilt deformation, curvature, and horizontal deformation values of the ground surface are calculated, and finally, the permissible values of the design specifications are combined to make a judgment. The research results of this paper put forward the prerequisite for improving the surface deformation induced by underground mining. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Mining, Waste Recovery and Efficient Disposal of Metal Mines)
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