Pdf if we want to ensure a sustainable future for the human race, we must. The realisation of a geographic information system gis specific to mining waste quantities and their pollution potential in different environmental contexts would thus constitute a tool in the. Smith billings symposium asmr annual meeting assessing the toxicity potential of minewaste piles workshop june 1, 2003 u. Sustainability and mine waste management a snapshot of. This waste is composed of broken rock from open pits and underground mines, coarse mill rejects from screening and heavy media separation processes, and fine mill tailings from screening, magnetic separation, and flotation processes. Whats left in the wake of south africas abandoned gold mines. Management of mining, quarrying and oreprocessing waste in the. No longer just a hole in the ground the adaptive reuse of. Return of the land to conditions capable of supporting prior land use, equivalent uses, or. Increased research to develop productive uses of mine waste offers considerable potential to reduce waste disposal issues. The mining waste burden and management problems are particularly important due to the high volume of material disposed. Solid mine waste overburden, waste rock, solidified tailings, slag, dust can be used as backfill in underground or open pit workings. The literature shows the potential use of iron ore tailings as a replacement of natural fine aggregates. Potential use of mine tailings and fly ash in concrete 2.
By noticing the small details of the products used and generated in a mine site, the mining industry can make strides towards being a more sustainable industry. Acid mine drainage prediction acid mine drainage prediction tests are increasingly relied upon to assess the longterm potential of acid generation. Current and potential uses for mining and mineral processing. Environmental and social impacts of mining and their mitigation. Chapter 6 water qualitybased effluent limits numeric criteria numeric water quality criteria are values expressed as levels, constituent concentrations, toxicity units see discussion of whole effluent toxicity below, or numbers deemed necessary to protect designated uses. Mine site cleanup for brownfields redevelopment mine site cleanup for brownfields redevelopment foreword it is estimated that more than 500,000 abandoned mine sites are located throughout the united states.
If we want to ensure a sustainable future for the human race, we must learn to prevent, minimize, reuse and recycle waste. Diamond mining uses a variety of methods, some of which involve the removal of. Coal mining and processing the national academies press. Fundamentally, a ph meter consists of a voltmeter attached to a phresponsive electrode and a reference unvarying electrode. Top 10 ways to make mines more environmentally friendly. Mine closure and restoration plan the plan should include reclamation of open pits, waste piles, beneficiation tailings, sedimentation basins, and abandoned mine, mill, and camp sites. The potential uses of copper mine tailings and steel slag need to be explored and the negative impact of mine tailings should be reduced by exploring potential uses of these waste materials in the construction industry. Although copper tailings have negative effects on the environment owing to their acidic content, they also have some great. E describe two environmental problems that are likely to develop at the mine site after the gold has been extracted and the mine is abandoned. Many mineral processing waste materials have limited potential for use as aggregates because of their fineness, high impurity content, trace metal leachability, propensity for acid generation, andor remote location i.
In the meantime, millions of south africans live around waste facilities and many deal with respiratory, skin and other health effects that they blame on the mine waste piled in and around their communities. Food industry wastes are an important environmental contamination source. Larew, users manual for sulfate waste in road construction. Generally, waste is categorized into two d ifferent types. Pdf sustainable use of mine waste and tailings with suitable. Apart from being potential resources, ht repositories also pose. The potential of sulfide rock to generate acid is strongly related to the. Use of mining waste in civil engineering as fill and earthworks material should thus be considered as a potential source of longterm water contamination.
It is the tailings that are of particular concern as they are full of small, fine particles that can be absorbed into the water and ground surrounding a particular mine. For example, by overlaying various thematic layers and viewing them in combination, gis software can be used to determine the best areas to dispose of waste rock and mine tailings. The potential new uses for these expanses of land include sites for research and. Information and data on the physical characteristics of solid wastes are important for the selection and operation of equipment and for the analysis and design of disposal facilities. The goal of this document is to evaluate current methods and identify strategies for environmental mine waste management that show potential for application in minnesota. It involves materials that must be removed to gain access to the mineral resource, such as topsoil, overburden and waste rock, as well as tailings remaining after minerals have been largely extracted. Waste management in mining industry abdepartment of mining engineering, godavari institute of engineering and technology, rajahmundry, a. Pdf recycling, reuse and rehabilitation of mine wastes. Pdf environmental and social impacts of mining and their. D describe two potential uses for the mine waste that will be produced during the extraction of the gold from the excavated material. Mine reclamation plans should incorporate the following.
These criteria often form the basis for npdes wqbels. Astms waste management standards provide the guides, practices, and test methods pertinent to the process of handling residential, commercial, and industrial wastes. The potential environmental threat of waste generated by mining, along with an increasing. Mining and quarrying activities in europe generate approximately 55% of total industrial wastes, according to a recent eurostat report. Fvws can be used to extract and isolate potential bioactive compounds that can be used in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and textile industries. Federal regulations for decommissioning and closure of mining operations are administered by the mine safety and health administration msha, the office of surface mining reclamation and.
A technical report is also required that evaluates the potential of the discharge of the mining waste to. Mine waste characterization california state water. A quarrys lifespan can range from under a decade to over 50 years worth of resource supplying. For operating mines based substantially on old operating methods, it is. During the earliest days of handbook development, mike bishop of epa region 8 lead the effort to develop a superfund mine waste reference document for epa project managers working on mine. Utilization of mine waste rocks and tailings in concrete as aggregates will help in sustainable. Most of these wastes are directly dumped on land or deposited in landfill sites. Astm suggested citation style, chicago manual of style 17th. Depyritised tailings could also potentially be used as cover on mine waste storage. Reuse of mine wastes allows their beneficial application, whereas recycling. The wsde report revealed that reduction of waste increases profit, reduces liability, lowers water use and waste, and also creates good public relations. Alternatives for waste management guide g314 fahzy abdulrahman1 cooperative extension service college of agricultural, consumer and environmental sciences introduction this publication provides an overview of the reasons and ways to better manage garbage or other household waste.
The ph is usually measured with a ph meter, which translates into ph readings the difference in electromotive force electrical potential or voltage between suitable electrodes placed in the solution to be tested. Pdf potential for reuse of tungsten mining wasterock in. Anon, 2006, dirty metal, mining communities and environment, earthworks, oxfam america, washington, pp 4 chapter 4. An overview of mining waste management issues in wisconsin background the wisconsin department of natural resources was recently petitioned by groups of concerned citizens to amend the applicable administrative codes to prohibit mining of. Mine planning with gis the siting of ore passes, draw points, ramps, and other components of the mining operation can also be successfully managed with gis. This includes the present and potential uses of these wastes as construction materials. A waste rock management strategy ensure that disposal of such material is inert or at least stable and contained, and minimizes the surface footprint of the wastes, and explores options for alternate uses. Survey of uses of waste materials in construction in the. When separating waste rock, the terms potentially acid generating rock pag. The abandoned mine site characterization and cleanup handbook handbook is the result of the collective efforts and contributions of a number of individuals. Reclamation of waste dumps is another or parallel alternative to decrease the potential for adverse effects. If mineral development occurs, the potential for generation of acidic mine waste drainage is the primary water quality concern. User guidelines for waste and byproduct materials in. Most wastes have limited potential for reuse because of their high impurity content or remote location.
Some waste might even be safe to use in other applications, such as in building. Pdf potential use of mine tailings and fly ash in concrete. The decision to mine can depend on commodity prices of the material, the. Tricks like recycling copper, which takes seven times less energy than processing ore, recycling steel which uses threeandahalf times less energy than ore, can go a long way in. Reuse of mine wastes allows their beneficial application, whereas. Mine environment neutral drainage manual, volume 3. Abandoned mine site characterization and cleanup handbook. Many human activities produce potential adverse environmental effects which include the construction and operation of highways, rail roads, pipelines, airports, radioactive waste disposal and more. Select one of these pollutants and identify one technology that can be used to remove it from the waste stream of coalburning power plants. Geological survey field leach test for assessing water reactivity and leaching potential of mine wastes, soils, and. Mining waste is the highvolume material that originates from the processes of excavation, dressing and further physical and chemical processing of wide range of metalliferous and nonmetalliferous minerals by opencast and deep shaft methods.
User guidelines for waste and byproduct materials in pavement construction asphalt concrete granular base. The stateoftheart proposes new methods such as the use of. This concern has developed because of the lag time at existing mines between waste emplacement and observation of an acid drainage problem univ. It is regarded as standard practice in the north american mining industry to utilize mine waste materials in the construction of dikes, impoundments, and haul roads on the mining property, and in mine rehabilitation such as. In 20, mining companies produced 562,000 times as much waste as gold, according to the south african chamber of mines. Rethinking mining waste through an integrative approach. Reuse of mine wastes allows their beneficial application, whereas recycling extracts resource ingredients or converts wastes into valuable products. Potentials of steel slag and copper mine tailings as. Mine wastes and their environmentally acceptable storage constitute the largest waste problem on the planet. The major physical characteristics measured in waste are. A discuss one environmental benefit and one economic.
41 373 1112 190 497 732 215 1130 1522 993 425 603 1346 946 114 1315 867 4 415 1145 92 1055 903 1315 141 918 1137 1068 1284 959 842 1140 163 330 135 73 1186 8 266 1135 949