Geochemical fractionation pattern and environmental behaviour of rare earth elements (REEs) in mine wastes and mining contaminated sediments; Sarcheshmeh mine, SE of Iran

What do we know about the ecotoxicological implications of the rare earth element gadolinium in aquatic ecosystems?

“…Consequently, the average potential mobility of REEs found by Khan et al (2016) suggested the following REEs mobility order: Yb > Gd > Y = Dy > Pr > Er > Tm > Eu > Nd > Tb > Sc > Lu > Ce > La. These data are in accordance with Khorasanipour and Rashidi (2020), which stated that HREEs display higher mobility compared to LREEs in the Sarcheshmeh mine (Iran), a highly contaminated site by acid mine drainage. Different conditions can modify and control the mobility of REEs in freshwater and marine ecosystems, including pH variations, climatic conditions, weathering and rocks composition, dissolution, solubility, ionic radius, dissolved ionic species, alluvial deposits and sorption capacity (Khan et al, 2016).…”

Geochemical Occurrence of Rare Earth Elements in Mining Waste and Mine Water: A Review

“…In their research, Khorasanipour and Rashidi, 2020 [10] concluded that the geochemical pattern of REEs in the mine tailings (ΣREE ranging from 64 to 275 ppm) collected from the Cu porphyry sulphide ore deposits in the Sarcheshmeh mine are controlled mainly by the processes that occur in the acidic conditions. Their experimental results showed that HREEs have a higher mobility potential than the LREEs.…”

“…Similar concentrations were observed in AMD samples from other European metal mines; 372-2846 ppb (pH = 1.9-3.0) in the Lousal mine of the Iberian pyrite belt in Portugal [90]; and 1600-3000 ppb (pH = 2.77-3.55) in the Ronneburg uranium mine in Germany [91]. In the Sarcheshmeh mine in Iran (porphyry Cu deposit) (the maximum concentration of REEs was observed in the acidic waters (pH = 2.5-4.7) produced by the weathered tailings after rainfall (ΣREEs of 489 to 1903 ppb) (Figure 5; [10]). Although ΣREEs decreased as the pH increased, the general trend was compatible with the highest concentration of HREEs rather than LREEs.…”

“…The recovery of REEs by recycling secondary resources can diminish the environmental footprint as well as the costs involved in mining and processing primary ores [9]. Many secondary sources of REEs appear promising, such as: mining waste produced during mining and metallurgical activities such as acid mine drainage (AMD), bauxite residue (BR), coal combustion products (CCP) and other ore mining waste such as tailings and sludge [10][11][12][13]. The major difficulty regarding the exploitation of mining waste is the high degree of heterogeneity (waste quantities, metal content and distribution, mineralogy, etc.)…”

Towards Sustainable Mining: Exploiting Raw Materials from Extractive Waste Facilities

“…In fact, several recent studies examining material and metal demand for supplying clean and hi-tech technologies report that these technologies will result in considerably more material-intensive demand than traditional fossil fuel mechanisms and non-hi-tech elements (Rare Earth Elements-REE, Co, Te, Se, Nd, In, Ga) [2,3]. Currently the commodities considered "critical" for EU economy are mainly constituted by REE [4][5][6][7][8] and base and precious metals such as copper, lithium, aluminum, silver, steel, nickel, lead, and zinc [9]. The supply of these CRM is highly connected to international geopolitics strategies and global market conditions as most of the CRM are exploited in non-EU countries (Table 1), therefore causing high economic dependence for the EU.…”