Quantitative and Qualitative Research on the Waste from the Mining of Rock Raw Materials in Lower Silesia

Abstract

The Lower Silesia area in SW Poland is characterized by a geological structure that is conducive to mining activity. The exploitation of rock raw materials plays an important role in this sector of the economy. By the end of 2017, there were in total approximately 400 current concessions for the exploitation of rock raw materials in the analysed area (Polish Geological Institute, MIDAS database—Management and Protection System of Polish Mineral Resources). The conducted mining activity results in waste, which in the greatest amount occurs in the process of obtaining crushed road and construction aggregates, natural aggregates, carbonate raw materials for the cement and lime industry, as well as stone elements for construction and road engineering. At the end of 2016, the mining plants accumulated 26,569,600 Mg of waste. As part of the European Regions Toward Circular Economy (CircE) project, research was conducted on the volume and composition of the mining waste of rock raw materials in the years 2010–2016 within Lower Silesia. This research used the methods of statistical, descriptive and spatial analysis to identify mining plants with the highest potential for using their wastes. In the course of this study, 6 mining plants with the highest potential of using their waste for industrial production purposes were selected. In order to objectively select these plants, the methodology of qualitative multi-criteria analysis was developed, and 7 criteria were selected for assessing the economic potential of using waste from the mining of rock raw materials. An additional result of this research is a database and graphical presentation of changes in the spatial distribution of generated waste in the Lower Silesia region in the years ranging from 2010 to 2016.

Multi-Criteria Analysis of Potential Applications of Waste from Rock Minerals Mining

“…Our approach consists of two stages ( Figure 2). In the first one (stage A), which has been described in [6], we identified, the above-mentioned mining waste criteria (K1-K7) based on their economic and environmental characteristics (A1) and employed the AHP methodology to calculate weights of these criteria (A2). Then, we allocated points to each of the 20 mining waste sites for each of the proposed criteria from a 3-point scale, where 1 point indicated the least suitable to be used for industrial purposes and 3 was the most likely to be used for industrial purposes (A3).…”

“…A precise analysis of this issue was conducted in the work of [6] in two dimensions: environmental and economic (CE idea). The first criterion of this analysis consisted of environmental conditions regarding the arduousness of waste utilization.…”

“…In our study, which is a follow-up of the research on quantitative and qualitative analysis of waste from rock minerals mining [6], we aimed at multicriteria (AHP) determination of the suitability The methodology of multicriteria analysis applied in our study relies on the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology proposed by Saaty [7]. It is one of multicriteria decision analysis methods that can be applied to a wide range of different decision-making problems, such as selection, evaluation, benefit-cost analysis, allocation, planning and development, priority and ranking, and decision-making.…”

“…In our study, which is a follow-up of the research on quantitative and qualitative analysis of waste from rock minerals mining [6], we aimed at multicriteria (AHP) determination of the suitability of mining waste sites for new development with respect to different criteria (potential uses of waste from rock mineral mining).…”

“…Within the research, the quantitative and qualitative analysis of waste was carried out. The quantitative analysis concerned obtaining information on the quantity and location of post-mining waste and it was carried out in the publication of Blachowski et al [5], whereas the qualitative analysis allowed to recognize the nature and the generic composition of the deposited waste [6]. As a result, the methodology of multicriteria analysis was used in this publication in order to present the recommendation concerning possibilities of waste management, assuming the use of known around the world and/or new technologies.…”