Mine Water Quality: Risks, Challenges, and Opportunities

Dear Colleagues,

Mining constitutes (and has constituted in the past) one of the most contamination-inducing activities around the world. Waste rock and water production (among other residues) generate acid mine drainage (AMD), degrading the natural ecosystem and altering biodiversity, particularly when they are uncontrolled. The AMD remediation strategies that have been developed to mitigate the environmental impact of mining waste have been focused on increasing pH and reducing metal mobility. Among them, active treatments involve the controlled addition of chemicals to mine soils or acidic waters. However, these treatments are expensive, and in most cases, they cannot be applied to a satisfactory standard. For this reason, the scientific community has opted for passive treatments that avoid the continuous addition of reagents, requiring only occasional maintenance, and their low energy consumption render them an economical option for the remediation of mine waste and AMD. In this context, treatment methods are increasingly focused on sourcing secondary raw materials (derived from urban, industrial, or even mining processes) that can be used as low-cost reactive agents, contributing to their recycling and promoting the development of a green and circular economy. Additionally, a range of opportunities arise when addressing contaminated mine waters. Among these is their potential use as a source of "critical metals" (CMs), including rare earth elements (REEs) and trace elements, which are essential for the transition to a low-carbon economy.

This Special Issue welcomes research focused on understanding geochemical transformations and engineering approaches aimed at improving the control and effectiveness of mine effluent management systems, developing innovative techniques for treating mining contaminated waters, utilizing novel materials as cost-effective reagents, and exploring emerging methods for concentrating or enriching critical minerals (CMs).

We seek submissions to this Special Issue that address one or more of the following topics: (1) the quality control of ecosystems affected by mine contamination; (2) the monitoring, control, and improvement of mining effluents; (3) studies on mine drainage treatment systems; (4) the reuse of raw materials for the remediation of environments impacted by mining; (5) geochemical studies on products and waste derived from mine processing plants; (6) hydrochemical models explaining fluid–rock interactions in mining environments; (7) studies on metal fractionation from AMD to solid phases; (8) and new opportunities for mining wastes (solids) or AMD precipitates (AMDps) to serve as a potential source of critical elements.

Dr. Joaquin Delgado
Dr. Cinta Barba Brioso
Guest Editors

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