Exhaustion of rich ore deposits is making it necessary to bring low-grade ores into production, resulting in a sharply increased volume of excavated rock. Huge quantities of waste fill vast areas of the Earth's surface, with severe ecological effects. But the ecological damage could be reduced by extracting additional products from the tailings. Laseroluminescent sorting is a new technology by which this may be achieved. The most promising subjects are about 50 minerals including diamonds, native Au and Ag, ores of V, Pb, Zn, Sn, Li, Be, W, Mo, Zr, Sr, halite, apatite, phosphorite, fluorite, calcite, barite, anhydrite.
