Physicochemical assessment of atmospheric particulate matter emissions during open-pit mining operations in a massive sulphide ore exploitation

A novel application of mobile low-cost sensors for atmospheric particulate matter monitoring in open-pit mines

“…Thus, the T and RH from the mobile LCSs and wind speed data from MeteoBlue© were compared with the mean PM 10 concentrations for each of the 334 routes. For this part of the study, no data of PM 2.5 is used since the coarsest material (PM 10 ) is considerably more present and PM 2.5 follows its same tendency, also in accordance with previous results as well as other research studies (Boente et al, 2022;Sánchez de la Campa et al, 2020).…”

“…It is worth mentioning that the track may change slightly because the mine is constantly evolving and mining tracks are frequently getting modified. However, these areas, which were identified as the main sources of atmospheric PM in a previous study (Boente et al, 2022), were always crossed.…”

“…The production of Cu in the Riotinto mine in 2021 was 56,139 tons after treating the plant with 15.8 million tons of mineral, one million more than the year before (ATYM, 2021). Thus, the main sources of PM were open-pit mining operations and mineral processing plants (Boente et al, 2022). The main areas of the mine are shown in Fig.…”

“…The present study was carried out in the large and prestigious mine of Riotinto (18.74 km 2 ). In this place, Boente et al (2022) reported a considerable amount of PM released by mining operations, and its impact was reflected in populations residing nearby (Sánchez de la Campa et al, 2020). Therefore, this area was optimal for the development of this innovative application of mobile LCSs that has never been tested before.…”

Numerical Investigation on the PM Emission Potential of Metal Sulphides Open Storage

“…It is also worthwhile recalling that other factors highly affect the emission, such as the type of material, the moisture content, and the presence of crusts or of film protection. Emissions from operative tasks such material stacking and reclaiming operations, as well as deposition on the yard (around the pile) and re-lifting [27] are not considered, since they are not accounted by the EPA model, although Furieri et al [28] demonstrated their important contribution to the total emission of an open storage yard.…”