Geometallurgical Approaches to Tailings Management and Resource Recovery

Dear Colleagues,

The generation of large volumes of mine waste (such as tailings, waste rock, slag, etc.) from the mining and processing of metalliferous ores poses significant challenges for their management and storage. One solution may be the valorization of mine waste through metal recovery and/or use as industrial raw materials. Mine waste and, in particular, tailings may contain significant amounts of valuable and critical minerals that were not previously recovered (e.g., cobalt, indium, rare earth elements). Sulphidic mine waste also presents a risk of acid production and metalliferous drainage. Through the use of geometallurgical approaches, the environmental risks of mine waste can be better managed, and their resource potential can be unlocked by better integrating geochemical and mineralogical knowledge with mining, processing, and environmental factors.

This Special Issue invites submissions relating to aspects of the geometallurgy of tailings deposits and other mine waste throughout all stages of the mining value chain, with a focus on resource recovery and environmental factors. Topics may include (1) sampling of tailings and mine waste deposits; (2) the geometallurgical characterization and process mineralogy of tailings and mine waste; (3) reprocessing of mine waste for metal and critical mineral recovery; (4) the desulphurization and geoenvironmental characterization of tailings and mine waste; (5) the application of geophysical methods to tailings deposits; (6) geometallurgical modelling of tailings and mine waste deposits to assess resource potential; (7) case studies of geometallurgical characterization of tailings or other mine waste.

Dr. Rosie Blannin
Dr. Anita Parbhakar-Fox
Dr. Steve Jason Chingwaru
Guest Editors

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