Affiliation:
1. School of Mineral Resources Engineering, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece
Abstract
Mining activities are prolific worldwide in light of the perpetual production of metal. The high need for metal materials in human life necessitates the development of mining operations, especially in places characterized as being highly enriched in metal ions. After the separation of beneficial and non-beneficial materials, industrial enrichment mechanisms take place to increase metal output. These mechanisms, known as metallurgical procedures, produce a vast volume of mining/metallurgical waste (MMW) at final disposal sites. MMW’s composition usually includes metal filings in low-pH site conditions. Thus, the environmental pollution hazard is high unless sustainable methods are implemented to reduce both heavy and toxic metals’ concentration in MMW at every disposal site. The scope of this review is to determine how cost–benefit analysis (CBA) and risk assessment (RA) could contribute positively to (a) the environmental effect of MMW reduction, (b) decreasing the environmental rehabilitation cost, and (c) research into economically sustainable methods of recovering metal from MMW.
Subject
General Earth and Planetary Sciences
Reference56 articles.
1. European Commission (2014). Guide to Cost Benefit Analysis of Investment Projects. Economic Appraisal Tool for Cohesion Policy 2014–2020.
2. Cost-benefit analysis of a circular economy project: A study on a recycling system for end-of-life tyres;Gigli;J. Clean.,2019
3. Mine waste & circular economy;Singh;Mater. Today Proc.,2020
4. Techno-economical evaluation of water reuse for wetland restoration: A case study in a natural park in Catalonia, Northeastern Spain;Alfranca;Desalination,2009
5. (2008). The European Parliament and the Council of the Europena Union (Standard No. Directive 2008/98/EC).