Mining Waste in the Circular Economy – Idea Versus Reality

Abstract

This article constitutes an analysis of the feasibility of the application of the so popular presently idea of the circular economy in the area of mining waste management. It describes the specificity of the mining waste generated during the mining and the enrichment of copper ore, i.e. waste rock (gangue), tailings. That specificity results first of all from the character of the processes where the waste are generated and the amount of them. The waste properties are described, the implemented methods of handling it are presented, as well as the prospective technologies of recovery developed in the range of research works. The presented examples show that the implemented methods of waste rock recovery can be an illustration and model of the functioning of the circular economy (or in other words for this case wasteless economy). However, as it comes to the flotation tailings the fact has been emphasised that the research studies are being carried out for decades aimed to search a possibility to recover as much waste as possible. Those deliberations lead to the conclusion that at present in reality the only method of that waste management is to deposit it in an environmentally safe way.