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Towards Sustainable Mining and Mineral Processing of Metals: Assessment to Implementation

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Resources and Sustainable Utilization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2025) | Viewed by 9211

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Allan Trench

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Business School, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Interests: mineral economics; mining finance; resource sector management; mining sustainability; gold mining; base metals mining; critical minerals; new energy metals; mineral exploration; mineral policy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Geoffrey E. Batt

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
The Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia, East Perth, Australia
Interests: mineral exploration; critical minerals; low-carbon steel production and value chain; the challenge of net-zero emissions mining and mineral processing; precision and low-impact mining; innovation in the mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sector; mineral carbonation; alternative uses of tailings and waste
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to launch a new Special Issue focusing on recent and emerging developments that will ensure a sustainable minerals industry to facilitate the energy transition, as well as the concurrent achievement of net zero emissions mining.

The minerals sector faces an exciting yet extremely challenging future. There is a dual requirement to discover and develop significant new sources of raw materials to process into metals, including critical minerals for the energy transition, but to do so in a manner that is sustainable, incurring minimal environmental externalities.

Mineral production remains a cornerstone of present and future societal needs, underpinning economic growth and thus affecting citizens’ quality of life.

Solutions for a cleaner future for the minerals industry are diverse, varying between commodities and geographies.

New methods of mining are needed where waste streams are minimized, as well as new processing technologies, both requiring cleaner energy sources, energy-efficient equipment, and fit-for-purpose chemical reagents and other consumables.

Sustainability challenges exist along the entire value chain from discovery through to economic assessment, financing, capital development, clean production, and in supply chain management.

Ethical, environmental, social, and governance expectations are heightened, as is the expectation that new production can be delivered safely.

This Special Issue will contain new research in the broad area of sustainable mining and will form a unique and valuable reference source for researchers and industry practitioners.

A list of potential topics of interest is reported below:

  • New frontiers in innovative mineral exploration and discovery.
  • Non-invasive mining, including in situ leaching of metals.
  • Productivity technologies in open pit and underground mining.
  • Mineral resources life cycle impact assessment.
  • Towards net zero emissions mining.
  • Energy efficiency in mining and processing.
  • New methods and emerging technologies for mineral processing and recovery.
  • Efficient recovery of by-product metals from smelting and refining.
  • Novel uses for mining sector waste streams.
  • Mining closure strategies and land repurposing.
  • Energy efficient transport of minerals products.
  • New demand segments for metals, for example in energy storage technologies.
  • Novel mineral policy initiatives for mining sustainability.
  • Community engagement in minerals developments.
  • Social and environmental sustainability of mining and mineral processing.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Minerals.

Prof. Dr. Allan Trench
Dr. Geoffrey E. Batt
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • mining sustainability
  • cleaner mineral production
  • future of mining
  • minerals demand
  • critical minerals
  • emissions reduction
  • reusing mining waste
  • circular economy
  • mining value-chains
  • metals recycling
  • mining rehabilitation
  • socioeconomic impacts of mining
  • sustainable supply chains

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 2420 KiB  
Article
Towards Sustainable Minerals for Energy Transition: LCA Insights from an Open-Pit Molybdenum–Copper Mine
by Wei Xia, Yanyan Geng, Chunlei Zhao, Ming Tao and Xianpeng Qiu
Sustainability 2025, 17(11), 4849; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17114849 - 25 May 2025
Viewed by 481
Abstract
China is the world’s leading producer of molybdenum–copper concentrates, an industry noted for its high energy demand and considerable environmental burdens. This study applies a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment to the production of molybdenum–copper concentrate in the Lesser Khingan Mountains, utilizing the ReCiPe [...] Read more.
China is the world’s leading producer of molybdenum–copper concentrates, an industry noted for its high energy demand and considerable environmental burdens. This study applies a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment to the production of molybdenum–copper concentrate in the Lesser Khingan Mountains, utilizing the ReCiPe 2016 midpoint method coupled with Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis. The results indicate that human carcinogenic toxicity represents the greatest environmental risk, followed by marine and freshwater ecotoxicity. Contribution analysis reveals that the grinding stage is the dominant impact driver—particularly due to hexavalent chromium emissions—affecting carcinogenic risk, climate change potential, and fossil resource depletion. Scenario testing demonstrates that upgrading grinding technology, enhancing electricity efficiency, and substituting conventional energy with renewable sources can markedly mitigate these impacts. However, because of implementation barriers, such as high capital costs, retrofit downtime, and uncertainties in the supply chain, a pilot phase is necessary before deployment at full scale. Quantitatively, the production of one tonne of molybdenum–copper concentrate corresponds to 0.05 DALYs of human health damage, 1.11 × 10−4 species.year of ecological loss, and USD 3488.82 of resource depletion. These results provide constructive references for the sustainable development of the mining industry and contribute to achieving China’s dual carbon targets through energy transformation and low-carbon technological innovation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards Sustainable Mining and Mineral Processing of Metals: Assessment to Implementation)
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14 pages, 665 KiB  
Article
Mine Water Use in Kazakhstan: Data Issues, Risks, and Regulations
by Zauresh Atakhanova, Mira Meirambayeva and Marzhan Baigaliyeva
Sustainability 2024, 16(6), 2456; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16062456 - 15 Mar 2024
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3307
Abstract
Kazakhstan experiences medium-high water stress, intensified by the rapid expansion of mining operations. Due to the scarcity of public data on water use in Kazakhstan’s mining, we use a case study to make inferences about industry-level water use. Specifically, we apply the ICMM [...] Read more.
Kazakhstan experiences medium-high water stress, intensified by the rapid expansion of mining operations. Due to the scarcity of public data on water use in Kazakhstan’s mining, we use a case study to make inferences about industry-level water use. Specifically, we apply the ICMM water accounting framework and assess water use at one of Kazakhstan’s new copper mines. We find that this mine has managed to achieve a high level of water reuse and minimal impact on water quality. Yet, the company has a relatively high share of water entrained in waste and a high rate of increase in freshwater withdrawals. Our estimates suggest that the operation of this mine has resulted in a 1.5% increase in withdrawals of Kazakhstan’s extractive industries. Considering that during the last decade, the number of mining companies increased by 50%, we can conclude that the cumulative water impacts of mining in Kazakhstan have been substantial. The forthcoming uptake of critical minerals production may further strain Kazakhstan’s water resources. Thus, the rapidly increasing mine water use and rising risks due to climate change and the sharing of water with neighboring countries call for urgent strengthening of Kazakhstan’s water governance and institutions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards Sustainable Mining and Mineral Processing of Metals: Assessment to Implementation)
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13 pages, 656 KiB  
Perspective
Gold Production and the Global Energy Transition—A Perspective
by Allan Trench, Dirk Baur, Sam Ulrich and John Paul Sykes
Sustainability 2024, 16(14), 5951; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16145951 - 12 Jul 2024
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4468
Abstract
Gold is neither a critical mineral nor a metal that is central to the global energy transition in terms of demand from new energy production technologies. Yet, gold is unique among mined commodities for its role in financial markets and for its global [...] Read more.
Gold is neither a critical mineral nor a metal that is central to the global energy transition in terms of demand from new energy production technologies. Yet, gold is unique among mined commodities for its role in financial markets and for its global production footprint including in numerous developing economies. Since the production of gold incurs CO2 emissions and other environmental risks including water pollution and land degradation, gold producers seek to adopt clean production solutions through electrification and renewable energy adoption. Further, gold’s unique role as a store of value creates new potential green business models in gold, such as the digitalisation of in-ground gold inventories, which can further reduce negative environmental externalities from gold mining. A net-zero emissions, future global gold industry, is possible. Major gold producers are targeting net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2050, coupled with a lower overall environmental footprint to meet heightened societal expectations for cleaner production. An analysis of emissions data from Australian gold mines shows systematic differences between mining operations. Further clean energy investment in gold production is required to reduce emission levels towards the target of net zero. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards Sustainable Mining and Mineral Processing of Metals: Assessment to Implementation)
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