PROMT: Philippines Remediation of Mine Tailings
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
Department Name: Sch of Geog, Geol & the Environment
Abstract
We will work with researchers and mining companies in the Philippines to discover new ways to manage metal mine wastes, to clean up pollution, and to make soils to support plant growth and allow the land to be reused. More and more metals are needed for the low carbon technologies to minimise the effects of climate change. The Philippines is the fifth most mineral-rich country in the world and will benefit from this increased demand, but sustainable mining technologies are needed to prevent negative impacts on the environment and surrounding communities.
Traditional mining and mineral processing technologies consume large quantities of fresh water, produce CO2, can contaminate water, and compete with local communities for resources. They also produce large amounts of mine waste - uneconomic rock, and wet slurries of finely-ground minerals left over from mineral processing, known as tailings. These are deposited behind constructed dams as tailings storage facilities. It is estimated that in the Philippines about 33 million tonnes of tailings are produced annually - about six times the weight of the Great Pyramid. Tailings storage facilities at both operational and closed mines pose environmental hazards; failure could cause contaminated materials to be released affecting people and ecosystems. The risk of failure is increased in the Philippines, due to the rugged topography, high rainfall, and frequent earthquakes.
Our research project will investigate new sustainable technologies to minimise the environmental hazards of mine tailings. We will apply our research to both nickel and copper-gold mines which make up 99% of the value of metallic minerals mined in the Philippines. Our project brings together three science areas that are vital for innovation: (1) we will show how tailings storage facilities can be monitored in real time to allow reactive management to environmental changes; to achieve this we will use emerging technology in geophysical tomography and remote sensing to monitor and understand tailings behaviour in 4D (2) we will investigate novel environmentally-benign solvents as a new method to dissolve metals from modern and abandoned tailings and test their application at mine sites; this will allow more metals to be recovered with economic value and also benefit tailings management by decontaminating hazardous components (3) we will study how plants and microbes colonise mine wastes, how this is affected by the use of solvents, and identify the best ways to promote biological growth. This will not only rehabilitate the land and allow it to be reused for agriculture or wildlife, it also minimises environmental hazards by improving the stability of the tailings and decreasing their toxicity.
Whilst these approaches have been applied separately in other settings, this will be the first time that they have been used in combination to address the pressing issue of tailings remediation. By integrating these novel approaches we will find synergies that will deliver a step-change in innovation and enable us to achieve our ambition of sustainable tailings management. The outcomes, impacts and benefits of this research will be to decrease impacts from tailings to local communities and the environment, improved social license to operate for mining companies, reduced long term liabilities and risks from abandoned sites, and potential sources of revenue by recovery of additional metals and land re-use.
Traditional mining and mineral processing technologies consume large quantities of fresh water, produce CO2, can contaminate water, and compete with local communities for resources. They also produce large amounts of mine waste - uneconomic rock, and wet slurries of finely-ground minerals left over from mineral processing, known as tailings. These are deposited behind constructed dams as tailings storage facilities. It is estimated that in the Philippines about 33 million tonnes of tailings are produced annually - about six times the weight of the Great Pyramid. Tailings storage facilities at both operational and closed mines pose environmental hazards; failure could cause contaminated materials to be released affecting people and ecosystems. The risk of failure is increased in the Philippines, due to the rugged topography, high rainfall, and frequent earthquakes.
Our research project will investigate new sustainable technologies to minimise the environmental hazards of mine tailings. We will apply our research to both nickel and copper-gold mines which make up 99% of the value of metallic minerals mined in the Philippines. Our project brings together three science areas that are vital for innovation: (1) we will show how tailings storage facilities can be monitored in real time to allow reactive management to environmental changes; to achieve this we will use emerging technology in geophysical tomography and remote sensing to monitor and understand tailings behaviour in 4D (2) we will investigate novel environmentally-benign solvents as a new method to dissolve metals from modern and abandoned tailings and test their application at mine sites; this will allow more metals to be recovered with economic value and also benefit tailings management by decontaminating hazardous components (3) we will study how plants and microbes colonise mine wastes, how this is affected by the use of solvents, and identify the best ways to promote biological growth. This will not only rehabilitate the land and allow it to be reused for agriculture or wildlife, it also minimises environmental hazards by improving the stability of the tailings and decreasing their toxicity.
Whilst these approaches have been applied separately in other settings, this will be the first time that they have been used in combination to address the pressing issue of tailings remediation. By integrating these novel approaches we will find synergies that will deliver a step-change in innovation and enable us to achieve our ambition of sustainable tailings management. The outcomes, impacts and benefits of this research will be to decrease impacts from tailings to local communities and the environment, improved social license to operate for mining companies, reduced long term liabilities and risks from abandoned sites, and potential sources of revenue by recovery of additional metals and land re-use.
Organisations
- University of Leicester (Lead Research Organisation)
- University of the Philippines Los BaƱos (Project Partner)
- University of the Philippines System (Project Partner)
- Nickel Asia Corporation (Project Partner)
- Philex Mining Corporation (Project Partner)
- Department for International Trade (Project Partner)
- Department of Science and Technology (Project Partner)
Publications
Fitch V
(2022)
Evolution of Sulfidic Legacy Mine Tailings: A Review of the Wheal Maid Site, UK
in Minerals
Gardiner N
(2023)
Geosciences and the Energy Transition
in Earth Science, Systems and Society
Duddigan S
(2023)
The extent and applications of metal accumulation and hyperaccumulation in Philippine plants
in Australian Journal of Botany
Lear L
(2023)
The effect of metal remediation on the virulence and antimicrobial resistance of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
in Evolutionary applications
Soltangheisi A
(2024)
Species-specific effects of mycorrhizal symbiosis on Populus trichocarpa after a lethal dose of copper.
in Ecotoxicology and environmental safety
Description | ESTA workshops |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Workshops on critical metals, circular economy and mining, delivered to Earth Science Teachers Association to help school teachers prepare teaching material. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Metal Heads |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Metal Heads street stall in Leicester city centre during the "Saturday City Takeover" of the British Science Festival 2022. Street stall had hands on activities that engaged and informed the public about the needs for, challenges, and more sustainable solutions to primary (mining) and secondary (recycling) metal resource extraction. Plenty of discussion and awareness raising with both adults and children during 5.5 hours of event. Estimated 600 visitors. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://britishsciencefestival.org/event/metal-heads/ |
Description | Mining Stakeholders engagement |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Meeting with company teams at mining sites in the Philippines along with engagement with local community representatives. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Telegraph Article - The green revolution is fuelling environmental destruction |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Gawen Jenkin interviewed in response to media enquiry with Telegraph journalist about sourcing metals for net-zero. Made the case for the need for primary extraction and development of more sustainable and responsible approaches to mining. Article with quotes from Gawen Jenkin published 20th January 2023 with the title "The green revolution is fuelling environmental destruction" |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/20/green-revolution-fuelling-environmental-destruction/ |