Comparative life cycle assessment of tailings management and energy scenarios for a copper ore mine: A case study in Northern Norway

Abstract

In support of continuous environmental improvement in the mining industry, it is important to systematically assess the environmental impacts of mining and mineral processing operations from a life cycle perspective. Although life cycle assessment (LCA) is widely used as an environmental systems analysis tool, the application of LCA in the mining industry is still in progress. This paper carried out a cradle-to-gate LCA of an underground copper ore mine planned in Northern Norway. Based on the ReCiPe midpoint (hierarchist) life cycle impact assessment method, results of the study showed that on-site electricity use, diesel for mining trucks and blasting dominated contributions across six, four and four, respectively, of the eighteen categories assessed, and metals leaching from tailings were the primary contributors to the human toxicity and marine ecotoxicity impacts. Compared to the baseline, results of the energy-oriented scenario analysis indicated that electrification of diesel-driven mining trucks would be more environmentally beneficial as long as across impact categories. While electrodialytic tailings remediation could extract up to 64% of copper in tailings prior to disposal and significantly reduce 2 the human toxicity impact of tailings, the marine ecotoxicity impact of tailings after electrodialysis changed inconsistently across the ReCiPe hierarchist and egalitarian perspectives. It is recommended to further assess the trade-off between the benefits of electrodialytic tailings remediation (extracting more copper) and the potential impacts of deposited tailings after electrodialysis from a multi-criteria decision-analysis perspective. In a generic context, this study provides an insight in further promoting LCA as an environmental decision-support tool, especially for comparing available cleaner production options, improving the overall environmental performance of a mine, and facilitating better communication with stakeholders.

Life Cycle Impact Assessment in the Arctic: Challenges and Research Needs

“…Tailings will be disposed in a subsea tailings deposit in the Repparfjorden Bay. An existing belt conveyor will transport the produced copper concentrate from the mineral processing plant to a ship loading dock with a distance of 50 m. Results of life cycle inventory and life cycle impact assessment (non-spatially differentiated) on this mine are recently reported by Song et al [102].…”

“…The heavy metal leaching potentials of tailings in this mine are further detailed in a recent publication [102], in which mobile and geo-available metals leaching from tailings are estimated based on sequential extraction. The uncertainty following from metal leaching from the tailings relate to factors both specific to the Arctic context, and generally for LCA.…”

Life cycle assessment of tailings management options: a conceptual case study in Western Australia

“…A wind erosion rate of 25 (t/y)/ha over the operating phase of the project was considered (Blight 2008). Released particles to air were assumed to be 5% particulate matter (PM) <2.5, 45% 2.5<PM<10 and 50% PM>10 (Song et al 2017).…”

“…In spite of its appeal, however, the application of LCA in the mining industry, especially in tailings management, is still a work in progress. Previous LCA studies in the literature have investigated the environmental impacts of alternative tailings management scenarios (Reid et al 2009;Song et al 2017;Adiansyah et al 2017), and compared the environmental performance of material handling systems in mining (Awuah-Offei et al 2009;Erkayaoğlu & Demirel 2016). However, a detailed analysis of the main inputs and outputs associated with tailings management at a mine site, and a systematic evaluation of the potential environmental impacts associated with them over all the stages of their life cycle have not been observed.…”

Design and Application of Rapid Dewatering for Tailings Containing Sodium Silicate: Laboratory and Industrial Test Results

“…Tailings are solid wastes generated from mineral processing. With the increasing demand of economic development for mineral resources, an astounding amount of tailings, approximately 1.2 billion tonnes per year in China, have been produced that have to be managed [1]. As a detrimental industrial waste, the improper disposal of tailings leads to some issues, such as floods, the proliferation of metal elements harmful to human health, the occupation of land, and the degradation of natural environment.…”