Regionalized Life Cycle Inventories of Global Sulfidic Copper Tailings

Abstract

Worldwide, an issue of copper production is the generation of mine waste with varying characteristics. This waste can pollute natural environments, and in particular, the heavy metal emissions of the tailings may pose long-term consequences. Currently, life cycle assessments of mine tailings are hampered by both limited data availability in the metal production value chain and lack of appropriate methodologies. We collect data from 431 active copper mine sites using a combination of information available from the market research and technical handbooks to develop site-specific life cycle inventories for disposal of tailings. The approach considers the influences of copper ore composition and local hydrology for dynamically estimating leached metals of tailings at each site. The analysis reveals that together, copper tailings from the large (i.e., porphyry) and medium-size copper deposits (i.e., volcanogenic massive sulfide and sediment-hosted) contribute to more than three quarters of the total global freshwater ecotoxicity impacts of copper tailings. This strongly correlates with hydrological conditions, leading to high infiltration rates. The generated inventories vary locally, even within single countries, showcasing the importance of site-specific models. Our study provides site-specific, dynamic emission models and thus improves the accuracy of tailing’s inventories and toxicity-related impacts.

An Integrated Model to Conduct Multi-Criteria Technology Assessments: The Case of Electric Vehicle Batteries

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Regionalized life cycle assessment of present and future lithium production for Li-ion batteries

“…Improvements regarding the resolution of supply chains are crucial to sustainable transition toward low-carbon technologies. This includes site-specific assessment of other minerals for batteries like Aluminum and Cobalt, such as was recently done for copper mine tailings (Adrianto et al, 2022). Our framework serves as a starting point for enhancing LCI and regionalized LCIA of other battery minerals.…”

Regionalized life cycle assessment of present and future lithium production for Li-ion batteries

“…Improvements regarding the resolution of supply chains are crucial to transition towards low-carbon technologies sustainably. This includes site-specific assessment of other minerals for batteries like Aluminum and Cobalt, such as recently done for copper mine tailings (Adrianto et al, 2022). Our framework serves as a starting point for enhancing LCI and regionalized LCIA of other battery minerals.…”