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State of the Science: Critical Minerals Recovery Technologies for Application at Superfund Mining and Mineral Processing Sites
Citation:
McKernan, J., J. Heisler White, AND M. Evans. State of the Science: Critical Minerals Recovery Technologies for Application at Superfund Mining and Mineral Processing Sites. Mining Technologies Workshop, Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Jude, ROMANIA, June 19 - 20, 2023.
Impact/Purpose:
This sub-product will produce outreach materials such as presentations, peer-reviewed journal articles or EPA reports to disseminate results from the testing and evaluations conducted in the primary research area product SHC.402.6.5. These data/information generated from testing and evaluation activities will be analyzed and written products will be prepared (i.e., EPA reports, peer reviewed journal articles or presentations) and disseminated to provide stakeholders and the public with information on the performance of the CM reprocessing and reclaiming technologies tested. These outreach products will assist Office clients, stakeholders & user groups (e.g., partner Agencies, technology developers, technology users & local governments or tribes) make informed decisions when selecting CM reprocessing and reclaiming technologies for legacy mining sites.
Description:
This sub-product will produce outreach materials such as presentations, peer-reviewed journal articles or EPA reports to disseminate results from the testing and evaluations conducted in the primary research area product SHC.402.6.5. To align with these activities, the proposed assessment/testing will provide objective, quality-assured performance across a spectrum of critical minerals (CM) reprocessing and reclaiming technology categories including: * Environmental media - soil & sediment; * Mining related wastes - slag, chat, tailings & waste rock; *MIW – fluids & leachate. Field & pilot testing will be conducted to produce quality-assured, defensible performance data/information. These data/information will be analyzed and written products will be prepared (i.e., EPA reports, peer reviewed journal articles or presentations) and disseminated to provide stakeholders and the public with information on the performance of the CM reprocessing and reclaiming technologies tested. These outreach products will assist Office clients, stakeholders & user groups (e.g., partner Agencies, technology developers, technology users & local governments or tribes) make informed decisions when selecting CM reprocessing and reclaiming technologies for legacy mining sites. One example is planned for the Navajo Nation cleanup effort, where a Uranium and Vanadium reclamation technology demonstration pilot will be conducted at two selected mine waste piles. Potential outcomes of the outreach material produced will include sharing the outcomes of these tests that can potentially be used on other mining sites to reduce metal concentrations in environmental media (including CM), reducing volumes & hazard rating of wastes on contaminated sites & offsetting remedy costs through the value of recovered CM. Materials will include performance assessments from testing new or existing technologies as well as sustainability metrics for evaluating long term and cross media impacts of the technologies. The product will include educational activities, and track outcomes for impacts. The product will also help make the technology assessments more relevant to stakeholders by establishing relationships with other organizations that conduct technology assessment and performance testing.