Dynamics of carbon dioxide uptake in chrysotile mining residues – Effect of mineralogy and liquid saturation

Assima, Gnouyaro P.; Larachi, Faı̈çal; Beaudoin, Georges; Molson, John

doi:10.1016/j.ijggc.2012.10.001

Cited by 76 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…As tailings are buried or immersed in TSF ponds, they receive less exposure to CO 2 , which inhibits passive carbonation. Assima et al [23] recommend an engineered design for efficient hydrodynamic conditions that would improve carbonation of chrysotile mining residues. Tailings management would aim to facilitate drainage and diffusion of CO 2 .…”

Section: Enhanced Passive Carbonationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, numerous studies have explored the use of ultramafic mine wastes as a potentially valuable feedstock for carbon mineralization [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. Ultramafic and mafic mines generate vast quantities of mine tailings that offer a readily available, fine-grained feedstock for carbonation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Strategizing Carbon-Neutral Mines: A Case for Pilot Projects

et al. 2014

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Ultramafic and mafic mine tailings are a valuable feedstock for carbon mineralization that should be used to offset carbon emissions generated by the mining industry. Although passive carbonation is occurring at the abandoned Clinton Creek asbestos mine, and the active Diavik diamond and Mount Keith nickel mines, there remains untapped potential for sequestering CO 2 within these mine wastes. There is the potential to accelerate carbonation to create economically viable, large-scale CO 2 fixation technologies that can operate at near-surface temperature and atmospheric pressure. We review several relevant acceleration strategies including: bioleaching of magnesium silicates; increasing the supply of CO 2 via heterotrophic oxidation of waste organics; and biologically induced carbonate precipitation, as well as enhancing passive carbonation through tailings management practices and use of CO 2 point sources. Scenarios for pilot scale projects are proposed with the aim of moving towards carbon-neutral mines. A financial incentive is necessary to encourage the development of these strategies. We recommend the use of a dynamic real options pricing approach, instead of traditional discounted cash-flow approaches, because it reflects the inherent value in managerial OPEN ACCESS Minerals 2014, 4 400 flexibility to adapt and capitalize on favorable future opportunities in the highly volatile carbon market.

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Section: Enhanced Passive Carbonationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategizing Carbon-Neutral Mines: A Case for Pilot Projects

et al. 2014

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“…Furthermore, seeding acid-generating materials with Acidithiobacillus spp. enhances magnesium ion leaching from silicate minerals (Power et al 2010); applying a cyanobacteria accelerates the precipitation of platy hydomagnesite (McCutcheon et al 2014); using carbonic anhydrase catalyzes the hydration of aqueous CO2 (Power et al 2016); pre-seeding carbonates promotes the carbonation nucleation (Zarandi et al 2016); pumping CO2 into tailing water increases CO2 gas content (Harrison 2014); and periodically adding small amounts of water keeps partial pore saturation at optimum levels (Assima et al 2013) which promotes the conversion of CO2 gas into a carbonate form. Moreover, the by-products of carbonation, such as photoautotroph biomass, can be harvested as biofuel (Power et al 2011).…”

Section: Modified Passivation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review on Integrated Mineral Carbonation Process in Ultramafic Mine Deposit

Hitch

2017

GREE

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Dramatical increase in the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere has led to the climate change, which poses a significant threat to human life on Earth. CO2 sequestration via mineral carbonation is the one of the most effective method for mitigating global warming, and is the only way that could store CO2 permanently. In recent years, integrating mineral carbonation via ultramafic mine deposit has received significant attention due to its high potentiality towards commercial application. This review compiles the work conducted by various researchers over the last few years on integrated mineral carbonation processes in mining industry, which use the mine waste materials as CO2 feedstock for mineral carbonation. This paper initially introduces the basic theory of mineral carbonation, with a brief description of various techniques that enhance the rate of mineral carbonation. The enhanced mineral carbonation strategies include pre-treatment of feedstock by thermal, chemical and mechanical activation, and carbonation in a direct or indirect carbonation routes under gas/solid phase or aqueous phase. This paper then introduces the scope of application of integrated mineral carbonation. This includes the types of mine suitable for integrated mineral carbonation, the properties of mine waste materials preferable for CO2 sequestration, and the worldwide locations potentially viable for integrated mineral carbonation. Moreover, this paper critically reviews and discusses the integrated mineral carbonation process in mining industry. The integrated mineral carbonation processes include modified passive carbonation techniques at tailing dams, and ex-situ carbonation routes using fresh tailings. The focus of the discussions is the role of reaction condition on the carbonation efficiency of mine waste with various mineralogy, and the drawback of each integrated mineral carbonation process. All the discussions lead to the suggestions on the technology improvement in the integrated mineral carbonation process. Finally, this paper reviews the economical assessments on the existing integrated mineral carbonation process. Literature to date indicates that the value-add by-products (i.e. recovered metals, valuable carbonated products) play an important role in commercialization of an integrated mineral carbonation process.

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“…Using atmospheric CO 2 and cyanobacteria-generated alkalinity in a carbon sequestration process is advantageous in remote locations lacking economically practical sources of CO 2 such as flue gases from power generation. At mine sites located in close proximity to point sources of CO 2 , injection of supercritical or gaseous CO 2 into the tailings may provide an effective sequestration strategy (Assima et al, 2013;Pasquier et al, 2014). Regardless of the mechanism utilized, mineral carbonation of chrysotile mine tailings would aid in stabilizing the hazardous asbestiform waste.…”

Section: Carbonation: Maximizing Tailings Stabilization Versus Carbonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many carbonate mineral formation mechanisms have been investigated for use on ultramafic minerals in ophiolites and mine waste products Paukert et al, 2012;Thom et 122 al., 2013;. Natural 'passive' carbonation of mine tailings has been documented at several mine sites Oskierski et al, 2013;, and could be enhanced by increasing exposure of the tailings to atmospheric CO 2 through aeration of the tailings or altering the tailing deposition rate (Assima et al, 2013;. Using ultramafic mine tailings produced by chrysotile, diamond, nickel, chromite and platinum group element mines as feedstocks for carbonation gives value to these waste products and allows mining companies to partially offset their operational carbon emissions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial carbonation in natural and engineered environments

McCutcheon¹

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Microbial carbonation, the ability of microorganisms to promote carbonate mineral precipitation, has been documented in a variety of environments. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the biogeochemical processes by which cyanobacteria aid carbonate precipitation in two contrasting environments as a means of determining if the fundamental controls on cyanobacterial carbonation are consistent across environmental regimes.The first of these environments was beachrock in the intertidal zone of Heron Island (Capricorn Group, Great Barrier Reef). In this investigation, carbonate microbialites and cements in the beachrock were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM). Mapping strontium using XFM proved to be a useful technique for revealing structures in beachrock that are otherwise difficult to see, such as laminations in aragonite (CaCO 3 ) microbialites. Characterization using SEM suggested that extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) play an important role in carbonate mineral nucleation. These results indicate that microbial carbonate mineral dissolution and re-precipitation over time is crucial to beachrock lithification.The role of microorganisms, particularly alkalinity generating cyanobacteria, in beachrock formation was confirmed in an 8-week beachrock synthesis experiment. Aquaria containing beach sand and fragmented beachrock from Heron Island were maintained under conditions simulating the intertidal zone environment in which beachrock forms. The seawater added to the aquaria was enriched in strontium so that any new carbonate precipitates could be identified using XFM. Beachrock was successfully synthesized and contained fossiliferous microbialites comparable to those in natural beachrock. Cement nucleation occurred on EPS within biofilms and exhibited co-precipitation of aragonite and calcite. No beachrock formed in the aquarium controlled by evaporation and tidal wetting and drying. These findings suggest that microbial activity is necessary for instigating beachrock cementation, which may become important as a means of stabilizing reef sand cays against sea-level rise.The ability of cyanobacteria to induce materials stabilization was subsequently applied to a more industrial setting, the derelict Woodsreef Asbestos Mine (New South Wales, Australia). Woodsreef Mine hosts ~24 Mt of tailings rich in asbestiform chrysotile [Mg 3 (Si 2 O 5 )(OH) 4 ]. Cyanobacteriadominated microbial mats can be found in the open pits lakes, and were used as an inoculum for mineral carbonation experiments. These experiments aimed to contain the tailings by producing a magnesium carbonate crust, or 'magcrete', while also sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide.iii Columns of tailings were leached using sulfuric acid to release magnesium from the tailing minerals, after which some columns were inoculated with the microbial consortium. In 4 weeks, a mm-scale crust of dypingite [Mg 5 (CO 3 ) 4 (OH) 2 ·5H 2 O] formed on the surface of the inoculated col...

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Dynamics of carbon dioxide uptake in chrysotile mining residues – Effect of mineralogy and liquid saturation

Cited by 76 publications

References 51 publications

Strategizing Carbon-Neutral Mines: A Case for Pilot Projects

Strategizing Carbon-Neutral Mines: A Case for Pilot Projects

A Review on Integrated Mineral Carbonation Process in Ultramafic Mine Deposit

Microbial carbonation in natural and engineered environments

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