In this study, the potential of copper tailing deposits in Chile for the sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2) via ex-situ mineral carbonation integrating the recovery of valuable metals was assessed. An inventory of tailing deposits and CO2 sources existing in Chile was constructed to determine the most suitable site for the installation of a future mineral carbonation plant and to evaluate the technical, economic, and environmental feasibility of CO2 capture, separation, and transport from the source to the mineral carbonation plant. The data of the inventory of tailings deposits in Chile were obtained from the National Service of Geology and Mining. For the thermoelectric plants installed in Chile, data of energy production were obtained from the Energy National Commission. Through the use of the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method and sensitivity analysis, the optimum location in the region of Antofagasta to install a mineral carbonation plant was identified. In addition, the results show that in the region of Antofagasta five tailing deposits have the potential to sequester between 66 to 99 Mt of CO2. Meanwhile, thermoelectric plants in 2018 produced about 9.4 Mt of CO2 that is available to be sequestered, with a maximum generation potential of 21.9 Mt of CO2eq per year. The methodology and the study presented can be considered as a preliminary study to identify tailings that require further analysis.
Decreases in the copper grade, waste disposal, energy supply, and water scarcity are some of the most critical challenges for the copper mining industries. One of the alternatives to counteract the water scarcity is the use of seawater, whether raw, partially desalinated, or desalinated. The use of seawater implies the generation of several compounds as a result of the interaction of ions in waters and ores. For this reason, it is required a greater understanding of these compounds generated on mineral processing, being Pourbaix diagrams used to estimate the possible compounds that will be formed in an aqueous medium for a given metal ore. In this paper, the effect of temperature, salinity, and Cu-concentration on the stability of the copper-solid species was investigated by constructing Pourbaix diagrams for different copper ore types with seawater. The results show that the corrosion areas decrease when the temperature increases for both oxidized and sulfide minerals. It was confirmed that the concentration is a critical variable that influences the size of corrosion areas. In terms of the effect of the other ions that seawater contains, carbonate, chloride, and bromide affect the stability of the Cu-solid species. The proposed diagrams serve as a useful tool to predict the stable species that may be obtained when seawater is used. The use of seawater in mining is an essential issue because it is considered as a more sustainable alternative instead of use freshwater or desalinated seawater, especially in locations with complex water availability, as is northern Chile.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.