Critical Minerals and Associated Elements in Mine Effluent and Treatment Residuals: Management Strategies and Technologies for Resource Recovery

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 October 2025 | Viewed by 1906

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
National Energy Technology Laboratory, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, P.O. Box 10940, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USA
Interests: resource estimates and characterization of mineral and energy resources; beneficial reuse of industrial and treatment wastes; sustainable resource recovery and production, including critical mineral recovery from mine drainage and associated solids

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Guest Editor
Cravotta Geochemical Consulting, Bethel, PA 19507, USA
Interests: integrating field, laboratory, and computer modeling methods to understand factors affecting water quality, especially those in highly disturbed or engineered environments; mine-impacted watersheds and water treatment systems for remediation of acid mine drainage (AMD)

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Guest Editor
National Energy Technology Laboratory, NETL Support Contractor, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USA
Interests: mitigating environmental impacts and improving environmental sustainability associated with energy production; beneficial utilizations of coal combustion residuals (CCRs); mine land reclamation; sustainable critical minerals recovery; sorbent synthesis; flue gas carbon dioxide sequestration

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

“Critical minerals” (CMs), including rare earth elements (REEs) and various trace elements (e.g., Li, Mn, Co, Ni, Zn), are components for renewable energy sources and energy storage and, thus, are essential for the transition to a low-carbon economy. The vulnerability of supplies, environmental concerns, and permitting challenges associated with traditional CM sources have generated interest in recovery from unconventional resources. This Special Issue calls for research on understanding the geochemical transformations and engineering techniques related to the enrichment and behaviors of CMs from one type of unconventional resource, mine waste streams (e.g., coal or metal mines) and treatment precipitates (e.g., passive or active treatment systems). Such information is needed for resource estimates and sustainable CMs recovery from mine waste feedstocks.

We welcome submissions to this Special Issue that incorporate one or more of the following: (1) field and/or laboratory studies of CMs behavior and hydrobiogeochemical interactions in mine drainage in treatment systems; (2) advanced characterization to improve CMs quantification and that leads to improved understanding of metal mineral binding mechanisms; (3) geochemical modeling of equilibrium and kinetics of CMs, concentrating on mechanisms such as sorption and co-precipitation; and (4) novel mine drainage treatment strategies that improve CMs enrichment, separation, and extraction processes while reducing environmental impacts and treatment costs. Open discussions on resource management, social–economic evaluation, as well as sustainability and carbon accounting are also encouraged.

Dr. Mengling Stuckman
Dr. Charles A. Cravotta
Dr. Chin-Min Cheng
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • mine drainage
  • tailing leachate
  • environmentally responsible
  • (bio)geochemical interactions and models
  • rare earth elements
  • lithium
  • transition metals
  • socio-economic assessment

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

27 pages, 4959 KiB  
Article
Factors of Bottom Sediment Variability in an Abandoned Alkaline Waste Settling Pond: Mineralogical and Geochemical Evidence
by Pavel Belkin, Sergey Blinov, Elena Drobinina, Elena Menshikova, Sergey Vaganov, Roman Perevoshchikov and Elena Tomilina
Minerals 2025, 15(6), 662; https://doi.org/10.3390/min15060662 - 19 Jun 2025
Viewed by 156
Abstract
The aim of this study is to determine the characteristics of the chemical and mineral composition of sediment layers in a technogenic settling pond. This pond is located on urban land in Berezniki (Perm Krai, Russia), outside the territory of operating industrial facilities, [...] Read more.
The aim of this study is to determine the characteristics of the chemical and mineral composition of sediment layers in a technogenic settling pond. This pond is located on urban land in Berezniki (Perm Krai, Russia), outside the territory of operating industrial facilities, and contains alkaline saline industrial wastes. The origin of this waste was related to sludge from the Solvay soda production process, which had been deposited in this pond over a long period of time. However, along with the soda waste, the pond also received wastewater from other industries. As a result, the accumulated sediment is characterized by variation in morphological properties both in depth and laterally. Five undisturbed columns were taken to study the composition of the accumulated sediment. The obtained samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), synchronous thermal analysis (STA), and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis. The results showed that the mineral composition of bottom sediments in each layer of all studied columns is characterized by the predominance of calcite precipitated from wastewater. Along with calcite, due to the presence of magnesium and sodium in the solution, other carbonates precipitated—dolomite and soda (natron), as well as complex transitional carbonate phases (northupite and trona). Together with carbonate minerals, the chloride salts halite and sylvin, sulfate minerals gypsum and bassanite, and pyrite and nugget sulfur were established. The group of terrigenous mineral components is represented by quartz, feldspars, and aluminosilicates. The chemical composition of sediments in the upper part of the section generally corresponds to the mineral composition. In the lower sediment layers, the role of amorphous phase and non-mineral compounds increased, which was determined by the results of thermal analysis. The content of heavy metals and metalloids also increases in the middle and lower sediment layers. When categorized according to the Igeo value, an excessive degree of contamination (class 6) was observed in all investigated columns for copper content (Igeo 5.2–6.1). Chromium content corresponds to class 5 (Igeo 4.1–4.6), antimony to class 4 (Igeo 3.0–4.0), and lead, arsenic, and vanadium to classes 2 and 3 (moderately polluted and highly polluted). The data obtained on variations in the mineral and chemical composition of sediments represent the initial information for the selection of methods of accumulated waste management. Full article
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18 pages, 1719 KiB  
Article
Baseline Cost Analysis of Energy Wastewater Treatment with Preliminary Feasibility Analysis of Critical Mineral Recovery
by Chad Able, Thomas Schmitt, Nicholas Siefert and Alison Fritz
Minerals 2025, 15(3), 213; https://doi.org/10.3390/min15030213 - 22 Feb 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 771
Abstract
Critical mineral recovery from wastewater is an enhancement of conventional mining that can help meet growing demand. This work investigates two energy wastewaters that have previously been shown to be enriched in critical minerals, oil and gas produced water in the Permian Basin [...] Read more.
Critical mineral recovery from wastewater is an enhancement of conventional mining that can help meet growing demand. This work investigates two energy wastewaters that have previously been shown to be enriched in critical minerals, oil and gas produced water in the Permian Basin and combustion residual leachate. Treatment of these two wastewaters using reverse osmosis or thermal-based methods concentrates critical minerals, which improves the economic viability of critical mineral recovery. Revenue from mineral recovery could also offset treatment costs for operators. This work evaluates the cost of treatment for each wastewater and evaluates the potential revenue from critical minerals concentrated in the brine. The levelized cost of water for combustion residual leachate ranges from USD 1.90 to USD 16.20 (USD 2023/m3 permeate) and for produced water ranges from USD 14.40 to USD 24.30 (USD 2023/m3 distillate). Recovery opportunities range from USD 0.11 to USD 1.13 (USD 2023/m3 permeate) for leachate and from USD 8.28 to USD 42.10 (USD 2023/m3 distillate) for produced water, dominated by the value of magnesium and lithium. Comparing the maximum value of critical minerals contained in produced water and the maximum treatment costs, the value of critical minerals exceeds the cost of treatment by USD 17.80/m3 distillate, which signals a potential revenue opportunity. Full article
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