scholarly journals The new expertise required for designing safe tailings storage facilities

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Gordon Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Mine Waste ◽  
Physical Stability ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Storage Facility ◽  
Substantial Impact ◽  
Best Available Technologies ◽  
Mining Community ◽  
Independent Expert ◽  
New Guidelines ◽  
Engineering Investigation

The global mining community has seen a dangerous sequence of failures in tailings dams, beginning with Mount Polley mine, followed by the Samarco, Cadia Valley and Córrego do Feijão mines. This sequence of failures began on August 4, 2014, at the Mount Polley tailings storage facility in British Columbia, Canada. The initial failure in the embankment at the Mount Polley tailings storage facility had substantial impact on the global mining industry. The Independent Expert Engineering Investigation and Review Panel (IEEIRP) tasked with the investigation of the breach in the tailings dam at Mount Polley made major contributions for new guidelines. The incident has given rise to comprehensive recommendations for best available tailings technologies (BAT) based on principles such as the elimination of surface water from impoundments with the promotion of unsaturated conditions in the tailings through drainage provisions. The application of these BAT principles for the surface storage of tailings leads to the use of filtered tailings technology. Filtered tailings technology or “dry stack tailings” can satisfy each of the BAT components when the impoundment is properly designed and constructed. The implementation of the best available technologies for the physical stability (BAT-PS) of tailings impoundments competes directly with the best available technologies for the chemical stability (BAT-CS) of reactive tailings that may produce acid and metalliferous drainage. The new expertise in mine waste management required to achieve both BAT-PS and BAT-CS are discussed in the present paper.

scholarly journals The Best Available Techniques for Disturbed Lands Reclamation in Kuzbass

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 02006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yury Manakov ◽  
Andrey Kupriyanov
Keyword(s):  
Mining Industry ◽  
State Standards ◽  
Sea Buckthorn ◽  
Coal Production ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Traditional Methods ◽  
Best Available Technologies ◽  
Best Available Techniques ◽  
Economic Use

Remediation of disturbed lands is a stage of elimination of negative consequences of coal production. In Kuzbass traditional methods to create the plantations of pine and sea buckthorn for economic use. Now dumps are objects for restoration of natural ecosystems and biodiversity. During the UNDP-GEF project in Kuzbass, the best available technologies for the restoration of disturbed lands were developed. They have been included in the new state standards and are subject to mandatory application in the mining industry in Russia.

Mine waste reuse and reprocessing: an important step for the implementation of the circular economy in Europe

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Françoise Bodénan ◽  
Yannick Ménard ◽  
Patrick d'Hugues
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Mine Waste ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Mining Waste ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Secondary Resources ◽  
Mineral Fraction ◽  
Long Term Treatment

<p>Whereas there are growing needs for mineral resources (metals for the energy and digital transitions<br>and construction materials), the mining industry must produce them from poorer, more<br>heterogeneous and more complex deposits. Therefore, volumes of mine waste produced (including<br>tailings) are also increasing and add up to waste from mining legacy. For example in Europe (x27): 732<br>Mtons of extractive waste are generated per year and more than 1.2 Btons of legacy waste are stored<br>all over the European territory. The localisation (and potential hazards) are well known and covered<br>by the inventories carried out in EU countries under the Mining Waste Directive.<br>At the same time, Europe is implementing the circular economy approach and put a lot of emphasis<br>on the resource efficiency concept. In this context, reprocessing operation to recover both metals and<br>mineral fraction is studied with the objective of combing waste management (reducing final waste<br>storage and long-term impact) and material production from secondary resources.<br>Numerous industrial experiences of reprocessing of mine waste and tailings exist all over the world to<br>recover metals such as copper, gold or critical raw materials - CRM They concern mainly active mine<br>where both primary and secondary resources are considered in profitable operations; for example in<br>Chile, South Africa, Australia. Mineral fraction recovery is often not considered which still leaves the<br>industry with a high volume of residual minerals to store and manage.<br>In addition, legacy mining waste are potentially available for reprocessing. In this case, numerous<br>mining liabilities issues need to be managed. Some of the European legacy mining waste have residual<br>valuable metals that could be recovered but some of them have very low metal contents. In Europe,<br>classical rehabilitation operations – usually at the charge of member states and local authorities – is<br>the priority and concern the reduction of instabilities and impacts to the environment including heap<br>remodelling, covering and water management with long-term treatment. Completing this risk<br>management approach by a circular economy one is a very active R&D subject in EU27.<br>This presentation will give an overview of EU research projects which tackled the legacy mining waste<br>challenge from inventory to process development. Several process flowsheets to recover metals were<br>designed and tested on several case studies with CRM – REE, Co, W, Sb, etc. Initiatives to reuse mineral<br>fraction are also underway and should be ready for commercialisation in the coming years.<br>Resources efficiency concept and the circular economy implementation starts on mining sites. In order<br>to facilitate the implementation of this approach, the technical solutions will need to be included in<br>innovative global initiatives covering also legal (liability management), environmental (Life Cycle<br>Analysis approaches) and social (acceptance) questions.</p>

scholarly journals The Nature and Articulation of Ethical Codes on Tailings Management in South Africa

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobius Thobile Poswa ◽  
Theophilus Clavell Davies
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Substantial Contribution ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Ethical Practices ◽  
Mining Community ◽  
Tailings Management ◽  
Regulatory Instruments ◽  
Corporate Social

It is well recognised that the mining industry in South Africa is highly rated for its substantial contribution to the country’s economic growth, including employment and infrastructural development. It is also known that mining and ore processing activities potentially pose a severe threat to public health and environmental well-being, in the way operations are carried out, mine wastes are disposed of (in dumps), local communities are relocated, mine management and the mining community in general, perceive established environmental standards and etiquette. This paper examines ethical practices and norms in the South African mining industry, with particular reference to the management of tailings dams. We analyse the modes of articulation of the country’s regulatory instruments for tailings management, and review the corporate social responsibility (CSR) approach of leading mining companies. Despite decades of research and resulting recommendations on tailings management, it is concluded that current legislations are largely ineffective, level of adherence by mine management and the mining community, low, and mechanisms for compliance monitoring, weak. New perspectives on legislative issues for unsolved problems in tailings handling are put forward, and directions for future research, indicated.

scholarly journals Potential socio-economic consequences of mine closure

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marietjie Ackermann ◽  
Doret Botha ◽  
Gerrit Van der Waldt
Keyword(s):  
Labour Force ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Mine Closure ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Mining Communities ◽  
Mining Community ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Peripheral Areas

Background: Mine closures generally reveal negligence on the part of mining houses, not only in terms of the environment, but also the surrounding mining communities.Aim: This article reflects on the findings of research into the socio-economic consequences of mine closure. The research specifically explored how mineworkers’ dependency on their employment at a mine affects their ability to sustain their livelihood.Setting: The research was conducted at the Orkney Mine and the Grootvlei Mine (Springs).Methods: The research was conducted within a naturalistic domain, guided by a relativist orientation, a constructivist ontology and an interpretivist epistemology. Data were collected by means of document analysis, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussion and unstructured observation.Results: From the research findings, it is evident that mine closures, in general, have a devastating effect on the surrounding mining communities as well as on the employees. Mine closures in the case studies gradually depleted the mining communities’ livelihood assets and resulted in the collapse of their coping strategies and livelihood outcomes. It generally affected the communities’ nutrition, health, education, food security, water, shelter, levels of community participation and personal safety.Conclusion: If not managed efficiently and effectively, mine closures may pose significant challenges to the mining industry, government, the environment, national and local economic prosperity and communities in the peripheral areas of mines. This truly amplifies that mine closure, whether temporary or permanent, is an issue that needs to be addressed with responsibility towards all stakeholders, including the mining community and the labour force.

scholarly journals Hydrogeochemical Behavior of Reclaimed Highly Reactive Tailings, Part 1: Characterization of Reclamation Materials

Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Kalonji-Kabambi ◽  
Bruno Bussière ◽  
Isabelle Demers
Keyword(s):  
Acid Mine Drainage ◽  
Mine Drainage ◽  
Mine Waste ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Companion Paper ◽  
Mine Wastes ◽  
Acid Mine ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Neutralizing Potential ◽  
Sulfide Tailings

The production of solid mine wastes is an integral part of the extraction and metallurgical processing of ores. The reclamation of highly reactive mine waste, with low neutralizing potential, is still a significant challenge for the mining industry, particularly when natural soils are not available close to the site. Some solid mine wastes present interesting hydro-geotechnical properties which can be taken advantage of, particularly for being used in reclamation covers to control acid mine drainage. The main objective of this research was to evaluate the use of mining materials (i.e., tailings and waste rock) in a cover with capillary barrier effects (CCBE) to prevent acid mine drainage (AMD) from highly reactive tailings. The first part of the project reproduced in this article involves context and laboratory validation of mining materials as suitable for a CCBE, while the companion paper reports laboratory and field results of cover systems made with mining materials. The main conclusions of the Part 1 of this study were that the materials studied (low sulfide tailings and waste rocks) had the appropriate geochemical and hydrogeological properties for use as cover materials in a CCBE. Results also showed that the cover mining materials are not acid-generating and that the LaRonde tailings are highly reactive with pH close to 2, with high concentrations of metals and sulfates.

scholarly journals Experimental Examination on Utilization of Processed Mine Overburden Sand by Substituted to River Sand in Construction

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 1858-1865
Keyword(s):  
Mine Waste ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Mining Area ◽  
Geotechnical Properties ◽  
Grain Size Analysis ◽  
Size Analysis ◽  
Land Resource ◽  
River Sand ◽  
Natural Sand

Overburden is the unutilized rock or soil bands that are generated during the mining process and are dumped near the marked placed inside the mine boundaries. It contains alluvial, sandstone, soil, gravel, clay, debris other than mining material. Dumping or management of this mine waste is a significant environmental problem, and additional cost spends to the mining industry. And also, most of this waste is disposed of at the surface, which inevitably requires extensive planning. Sand and gravel are low energy-intensive construction materials, but the growing demand for industrial uses has depleted this natural source. Limitations to natural sand extraction and legal regulations have been imposed in several countries due to environmental concerns. Due to the above, all the reasons river sand has become very costly in recent years. The research has been carried out to convert the overburden to processed overburden sand after that compared the geotechnical properties like specific gravity, permeability, moisture content, and grain size analysis, swell factor of both the overburden processed sand and natural river sand. Then we check the suitability of processed overburden material as a replacement to natural river sand in construction by comparing the strengths of the concrete samples prepared with both the river sand and processed overburden sand. We found the average compressive strength of overburden sand brick is 24.69 MPa, and river sand brick is 28.08 MPa of 14 days curing of bricks. The results obtained that the processed overburden sand can be used as the best alternative for the river sand because the geotechnical properties of both are almost the same. This processed overburden utilization in the coal mining area to reduced environmental impact, more availability of a land resource, minimizing the overburden disposable cost to the mining industry, and it’s also helpful to the preservation of natural river sand.

scholarly journals The Role of Microorganisms in the Formation, Dissolution, and Transformation of Secondary Minerals in Mine Rock and Drainage: A Review

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1349
Author(s):  
Jose Eric Ortiz-Castillo ◽  
Mohamad Mirazimi ◽  
Maryam Mohammadi ◽  
Eben Dy ◽  
Wenying Liu
Keyword(s):  
Mine Drainage ◽  
Mine Waste ◽  
Sulfide Oxidation ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Source Control ◽  
Metals And Metalloids ◽  
Secondary Minerals ◽  
Potentially Harmful Elements ◽  
Mine Waste Rock

Mine waste rock and drainage pose lasting environmental, social, and economic threats to the mining industry, regulatory agencies, and society as a whole. Mine drainage can be alkaline, neutral, moderately, or extremely acidic and contains significant levels of sulfate, dissolved iron, and, frequently, a variety of heavy metals and metalloids, such as cadmium, lead, arsenic, and selenium. In acid neutralization by carbonate and silicate minerals, a range of secondary minerals can form and possibly scavenge these potentially harmful elements. Apart from the extensively studied microbial-facilitated sulfide oxidation, the diverse microbial communities present in mine rock and drainage may also participate in the formation, dissolution, and transformation of secondary minerals, influencing the mobilization of these metals and metalloids. This article reviews major microbial-mediated geochemical processes occurring in mine rock piles that affect drainage chemistry, with a focus on the role of microorganisms in the formation, dissolution, and transformation of secondary minerals. Understanding this is crucial for developing biologically-based measures to deal with contaminant release at the source, i.e., source control.

Three Mining Charters and a Draft: How the Politics and Rhetoric of Development in the South African Mining Sector are Keeping Communities in Poverty

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 801-841
Author(s):  
Anri Heyns ◽  
Hanri Mostert
Keyword(s):  
Community Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
The South ◽  
Mining Communities ◽  
Mining Companies ◽  
Mining Community ◽  
Black Economic Empowerment ◽  
Economic Landscape ◽  
Development Paradigm

Abstract In the postapartheid South African economic landscape, the idea of “empowerment” has been given special meaning in the concept “black economic empowerment,” or BEE. BEE serves as a vehicle for the transformation of the South African economy in general by promoting, amongst other things, increased black ownership and management of businesses, skills development and rural community development. These empowerment aspirations are also pursued in the mining industry in terms of the Mining Charter. The development of mining communities is one of the main features of empowerment in the mining industry. An analysis of the various versions of the Mining Charter shows a certain progression in the approach to the empowerment and development of rural mining communities: There is an increased emphasis on the poverty still faced by these communities, years after the introduction of the first Mining Charter. The question is whether the increased emphasis will mean much for mining communities. This article argues that the empowerment of mining communities in terms of the Mining Charter can be situated in the development paradigm and is subjected to the politics of development. For the purposes of this article, the politics of development refer to the underlying political and ideological assumptions of the idea of development, which have consequences for how a development problem is framed and the development beneficiary is represented. Inevitably, the problem faced by development beneficiaries is reduced to mere poverty, showing how the politics of development will affect how development solutions are constructed. Regarding the Mining Charter specifically, the politics of development causes uncertainty as to who may benefit from community development initiatives. The inability to identify or demarcate the mining community accurately means that the drafters of the Mining Charter can only employ poverty alleviation rhetoric. The rhetoric creates expectations with mining communities that mining companies cannot meet, placing significant pressure on the already volatile relationship between mining companies and mining communities.

scholarly journals A Tunnel under an In-Pit Mine Waste Dump to Improve Environmental and Landscape Recovery of the Site

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 566
Author(s):  
Rania Rebbah ◽  
Joana Duarte ◽  
Omar Djezairi ◽  
Mohamed Fredj ◽  
João Santos Baptista
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Mine Waste ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Mining Area ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Open Pit ◽  
Open Pit Mining ◽  
Environmental Recovery ◽  
Phosphate Deposit

By adopting the green mining concept, the mining industry seeks to respond to the current societal objective of supplying the mineral raw materials necessary for economic development while minimising the ecological footprint. To accomplish environmental recovery simultaneously with mineral exploitation, as well as to take advantage of mine waste, this study proposes a new solution that includes the construction of a tunnel to access the mining area. The concept, developed with topographical and geological data, was tested for the Bled El Hadba phosphate deposit. The extraction volumes were estimated by considering all the technical and legal aspects of the exploitation. The results showed that the best location for the tunnel is on the non-mineralised bottom of the mine and placed after ore removal. The tunnel is then progressively covered by mine tailings as it is extended. This concept is applicable to sub-horizontal ore deposits. We show that the solution is feasible and allows full site recovery at the end of the open-pit mining phase.

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