Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich 8093, Switzerland.
Environ Sci Technol. 2022 Apr 5;56(7):4553-4564. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.1c01786. Epub 2022 Mar 16.
Worldwide, an issue of copper production is the generation of mine waste with varying characteristics. This waste can pollute natural environments, and in particular, the heavy metal emissions of the tailings may pose long-term consequences. Currently, life cycle assessments of mine tailings are hampered by both limited data availability in the metal production value chain and lack of appropriate methodologies. We collect data from 431 active copper mine sites using a combination of information available from the market research and technical handbooks to develop site-specific life cycle inventories for disposal of tailings. The approach considers the influences of copper ore composition and local hydrology for dynamically estimating leached metals of tailings at each site. The analysis reveals that together, copper tailings from the large (i.e., porphyry) and medium-size copper deposits (i.e., volcanogenic massive sulfide and sediment-hosted) contribute to more than three quarters of the total global freshwater ecotoxicity impacts of copper tailings. This strongly correlates with hydrological conditions, leading to high infiltration rates. The generated inventories vary locally, even within single countries, showcasing the importance of site-specific models. Our study provides site-specific, dynamic emission models and thus improves the accuracy of tailing's inventories and toxicity-related impacts.
在全球范围内，铜生产面临的一个问题是产生具有不同特征的矿山废物。这种废物会污染自然环境，特别是尾矿的重金属排放可能会造成长期后果。目前，由于金属生产价值链中数据有限，以及缺乏适当的方法，矿山尾矿的生命周期评估受到阻碍。我们使用市场研究和技术手册中提供的信息相结合，从 431 个活跃的铜矿场收集数据，为尾矿处置开发特定场地的生命周期清单。该方法考虑了铜矿石成分和当地水文学的影响，以便在每个场地动态估计尾矿中浸出的金属。分析表明，大型（即斑岩型）和中型铜矿（即火山成因块状硫化物和沉积岩型）的铜尾矿加起来，导致全球铜尾矿对淡水生态毒性影响的四分之三以上。这与水文条件密切相关，导致高渗透率。即使在单个国家内，生成的清单也存在局部差异，这凸显了特定场地模型的重要性。我们的研究提供了特定场地的动态排放模型，从而提高了尾矿清单和毒性相关影响的准确性。
