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http://dx.doi.org/10.9719/EEG.2020.53.6.781

Environment-friendly Processing Technologies of Mine Tailings: Research on the Characteristics of Mine Tailings when Developing of Deep Sea Mineral Resources  

Moon, Inkyeong (Deep-sea and Seabed Mineral Resources Research Center, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology)
Yoo, Chanmin (Deep-sea and Seabed Mineral Resources Research Center, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology)
Kim, Jonguk (Deep-sea and Seabed Mineral Resources Research Center, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology)
Publication Information
Economic and Environmental Geology / v.53, no.6, 2020 , pp. 781-792 More about this Journal
Abstract
Mine tailings, which are inevitably formed by the development of manganese nodules, manganese crusts, and hydrothermal seafloor deposits, have attracted attention because of their quantity and potential toxicity. However, there is a lack of data on the quantity of mine tailings being generated, their physicochemical properties, and their effects as environmental hazards and on marine ecosystems in general. The importance of treating mine tailings in an environmentally friendly manner has been recognized recently and related reduction/treatment methods are being considered. In the case of deep-sea mineral resource development, if mine tailings cannot be treated aboard a ship, the issue becomes one of the cost of transporting them to land and solving the problem of environmental pollution there. Therefore, the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology conducted research on the harmfulness of mine tailings, their effect on marine ecosystem, the diffusion model of contaminated particles, and candidate purification treatment technologies based on five representative controlling factors: 1) effects of pollution /on the environment, 2) effects of environmental/ biological hazards, 3) diffusion of particles, 4) mineral dressings, and 5) reducing/processing mine tailings. The results of this study can provide a basis for minimizing environmental problems by providing scientific evidences of the environmental effects of mine tailings. In addition, it is also expected that these results could be applied to the treatment of pollutants of different origins and at land-based mining waste sites.
Keywords
mine tailings; deep-sea mineral resource development; environment-friendly development; marine ecosystem; hydrothermal deposits;
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