Strategies to Secure Critical Minerals by Reprocessing Mine Wastes

Sujeong Lee; Rina Kim

doi:10.32390/ksmer.2021.58.4.330

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2021 Vol.58, Issue 4 Preview Page Next Page

Review

Strategies to Secure Critical Minerals by Reprocessing Mine Wastes 광산폐기물 재처리를 통한 핵심위기광물의 확보 전략

31 August 2021. pp. 330-340

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Abstract

Securing critical minerals in high demand for clean energy, electric vehicles, and aerospace has emerged as a major concern for countries worldwide due to their scarcity, supply risk, and lack of substitutes. The United States, the EU, Australia, Canada, and Japan have been cooperating to secure these minerals. Critical minerals are most often treated as by-products of metallurgical processes because of their low concentration in the crust of minable depth and high companionability to the major minerals. Feasibility studies for recovering critical minerals from mine wastes have been conducted in the EU and the United States, and some have resulted in commercial production. In Korea, tailings have been investigated to identify their environmental impact, mostly focusing on the behavior of heavy metals in them. In this review, we examine the trends of reprocessing tailings for recovering critical minerals and present the necessary information evaluating tailings as resources. To successfully assess the potential of tailings as resources, it is essential to build a database including the physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties of tailings as well as basic information such as geographic location and accessibility.

Keywords

Critical minerals

Mine wastes

Reprocessing

Recover

Database

청정에너지와 전기차, 항공우주 등에서 수요가 급증하는 핵심위기광물의 확보는 희소성과 공급의 불안정성, 대체재의 부재로 인해 세계 각국의 초미의 관심사로 대두되었다. 미국과 유럽연합, 호주, 캐나다 및 일본은 핵심위기광물을 확보하기 위한 국제적 공조에 힘을 쏟고 있다. 핵심위기광물은 채굴 가능한 깊이의 지각에서 함량이 낮고 주광물에 동반되기 때문에 대부분 주요 금속 생산의 부산물에 함유되어 있다. 광산폐기물로부터 핵심위기광물을 회수하기 위한 타당성 연구가 유럽연합과 미국 등에서 이루어져 왔으며, 상업적으로 생산된 경우도 보고되고 있다. 국내에서는 광산폐기물을 유해 중금속의 거동 파악이나 제거, 환경에 미치는 영향을 연구하는 대상으로 보는 것이 일반적이다. 본 해설에서는 광산폐기물의 재처리를 통한 핵심위기광물의 회수 가능성을 검토하기 위해 이와 관련된 전반적인 동향과 자원으로서의 광산폐기물을 평가하기 위해 필요한 정보를 제시하였다. 무엇보다도 지형적 위치, 접근 가능성 등의 기본 정보부터 광산폐기물의 물리적·화학적·광물학적 분석 결과를 포함하는 데이터베이스 구축이 선행되어야 할 것이다.

키워드

핵심위기광물

광산폐기물

재처리

회수

데이터베이스

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Information

Publisher :The Korean Society of Mineral and Energy Resources Engineers
Publisher(Ko) :한국자원공학회
Journal Title :Journal of the Korean Society of Mineral and Energy Resources Engineers
Journal Title(Ko) :한국자원공학회지
Volume : 58
No :4
Pages :330-340
Received Date : 2021-06-15
Revised Date : 2021-08-06
Accepted Date : 2021-08-26
DOI :https://doi.org/10.32390/ksmer.2021.58.4.330

Journal of the Korean Society of Mineral and Energy Resources Engineers ISSN:2288-0291(Print) 2288-2790(Online) 한국자원공학회지

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