Mining and Mineral Processing Waste: Transition Towards a Circular Economy

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 4790

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University, Wolston Ln, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Coventry CV8 3LG, UK
Interests: environmental science; geochemistry; environmental engineering; material science; analytical chemistry and biogeochemistry
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Guest Editor
School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China
Interests: materials science; sustainable materials; sustainable technology; environmental science; engineering; solid wastes reutilisation

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Guest Editor
Laboratory of technogenic landscape biogeochemistry, Institute of Natural Science, Perm State National Research University, 614068 Perm, Russia
Interests: geochemistry; biogeochemistry; environmental science; sustainability; mining wastes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

More than 70 years ago, V. Vernadsky, who created the holistic doctrine of the Biosphere and the Noosphere, stated that “Humankind is a geological force transforming the face of our planet”. A vast amount of waste (e.g., mining tailing, mine drainage, etc.) has been generated globally during the last century as a result of mining and mineral processing, and this is expected to worsen with increasing resource and energy demand due to increasing population, industrialisation and urbanisation. The high amount of the materials mined or removed for extraction of Cu, Pb, Zn, Pb, Co, Au, Ag, and REE become waste. Therefore, the transition from the existing linear economy (take-make-dispose) to a circular economy in the mining and mineral processing industry (MMPI) is critical and timely. A holistic approach to integrating a circular economy, an alternative model of growth for a sustainable future, includes interconnection and developments in economics, environment, science, technology and innovation, government, society, and education.

This Special Issue is open to (but not limited to) articles related to the following research areas:

  • Strategies adopting a circular economy approach to MMPIs, minimising their negative effects, sharing the best practice, and reducing waste;
  • Mining and Mineral Processing Waste: circular economy solutions;
  • Synergistic solutions, such as industrial symbiosis, for reducing and/or reusing waste;
  • Sustainable materials and processes for valuable element extraction from Mining and Mineral Processing Waste.

Dr. Anna Bogush
Prof. Dr. Tongsheng Zhang
Dr. Elena Khayrulina
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • mine water
  • mine drainage
  • acid mine drainage (AMD)
  • sustainability
  • circular economy
  • waste remediation
  • element extraction
  • element recovery
  • industrial symbiosis solution

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1278 KiB  
Article
Predicting the Release and Migration of Potentially Harmful Elements (PHEs) during the Lightweight Ceramsite Preparation from Carbide Slag
by Qi Jiang, Yongmei He, Yonglin Wu, Tianguo Li, Chengxue Li, Hongpan Liu, Zhonghua Wang and Ming Jiang
Minerals 2023, 13(2), 216; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13020216 - 2 Feb 2023
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Abstract
When preparing lightweight ceramsite using carbide slag, trace amounts of toxic elements are released into the atmosphere due to high-temperature calcination, posing a significant risk to the environment. The real-time monitoring of the released gases is challenging under laboratory conditions while preparing large [...] Read more.
When preparing lightweight ceramsite using carbide slag, trace amounts of toxic elements are released into the atmosphere due to high-temperature calcination, posing a significant risk to the environment. The real-time monitoring of the released gases is challenging under laboratory conditions while preparing large quantities of ceramsite. Therefore, heating was simulated using experimental data and the FactSage 7.0 thermochemical database to study the release of harmful Al-, C-, H-, S-, and F-containing elements when using carbide slag to prepare lightweight ceramsite. The results indicated that no Al, C, H, S, or F elements were evident in the high-temperature liquid products obtained in a 50 °C to 1150 °C calcination temperature range. Al was present in a solid state with no gaseous products. When the temperature reached 450 °C, CO gas was released and its level increased as the temperature rose. H and S mainly combined into H2S gas, starting at 250 °C and reaching a peak at 1050 °C. H and F primarily combined into HF, starting at 400 °C. Other F-containing gases mainly included SiF4 and TiF3, which began to release at 800 °C and 900 °C, respectively. The release trends of HF, SiF4, and TiF3 were consistent with those of CO. This study aimed to conduct an environmental impact and management assessment for the preparation of lightweight ceramsite using carbide slag. The use of raw material carbide slag for the low-cost treatment of tail gas was proposed, which provides theoretical and up-to-date support for greening the application of the process. Full article
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10 pages, 1921 KiB  
Article
Geochemical Characteristics of Tailings from Typical Metal Mining Areas in Tibet Autonomous Region
by Rengui Weng, Guohong Chen, Xin Huang, Feng Tian, Liufang Ni, Lei Peng, Dongqi Liao and Beidou Xi
Minerals 2022, 12(6), 697; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12060697 - 30 May 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2493
Abstract
With the exploring and developing of mineral resources in the Tibet Autonomous Region for many years, a large number of tailings have been produced. A total of 17 tailings samples from borehole cores were collected from different tailings ponds in different regions of [...] Read more.
With the exploring and developing of mineral resources in the Tibet Autonomous Region for many years, a large number of tailings have been produced. A total of 17 tailings samples from borehole cores were collected from different tailings ponds in different regions of Tibet. The results showed that the mineral composition and content of tailings in each research area were different. Among them, quartz was the most abundant mineral in most tailings. The major elements of tailings mainly included Si, Al, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ca, Na, K and so on. S existed in different types of tailings. In the analysis of trace element composition, it was found that the content of some elements had approached the lowest industrial grade, which has potential recycling value, such as Mn, Zn, Pb and P. Through the detection of radioactive elements (Ra-226, Th-232 and K-40), it was shown that there were great differences among different types of tailings, and their different contents would bring potential hazards to the safety of the surrounding environment and human health. Similar results were found in the analysis of particle size characteristics of tailings. These results are of great significance for the future utilization and resource utilization of tailings pond. Full article
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