Envisioning the Future of Mining, 2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

The different scenarios that have occurred globally due to energy and digital transitions, and the increasing need for construction materials for growing urban populations, show the greater dependence on mineral raw material production, especially those considered critical or strategic. In the first edition of this Special Issue, the call for contributions in urban mining, submarine mining, ultradeep mining, extraterrestrial mining, and innovative advances in raw material processing ranged from artisanal to large-scale mining activities. The call also invited the inclusion of integrated sociotechnical approaches to address future challenges in sustainable and socially responsible ways. Most of the published articles were focused on health and safety issues, electrification, and digitalization from a technical point of view, while some papers introduced socio-technical approaches.

This second edition invites papers from these areas and new productive sectors with the goal of beginning to map the future of mining which can no longer be divorced from its environmental and social dimensions. Hence, we invite papers that show, for example, the socio-ecological dimensions of mining critical minerals for the energy transition to renewables, or the hidden linkages between urban mining (recycling electronic and construction and demolition waste) and the extractive mining for these minerals. We envision all papers to have a sociotechnical approach to their analyses. 

Prof. Dr. Juan M Menéndez-Aguado
Prof. Dr. Oscar Jaime Restrepo Baena
Prof. Dr. Juan C. Lucena
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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