Renewable-Resource Technologies in Mining and Metallurgical Enterprises Providing Environmental Safety

Abstract

The article addresses the issue of mining and industrial waste stored in tailings and heaps in mining areas, and it explores the existing, as well as new, ways of reducing its harmful impact on the environment. On the basis of the Russian experience in mining industry in Ural, it presents a process which makes it possible to eliminate the amassed hazardous waste, retrieve the valuable material (metals) stored in it, and use the remaining waste as backfill in order to both: store it underground (and not on the surface) and prevent the disasters caused by the collapse of the abandoned shafts, thus prolonging the functioning of the mining areas. The process includes preliminary activation treatment of materials found in industrial waste in a disintegrator to protect the environment from toxic pollution. The promising results of the experiment have been discussed, taking into account the complexities of economic evaluation of the idea.