AZoMining - The Online Mining Community reposted this
When you think of mining, what do you think of? ⛏️ Maybe you think of diamonds, or possibly deep caves with workers chipping away at the rock. Okay, so maybe we’ve come a lot further that that over the decades. But one thing we should really be thinking about is waste. Mining accounts for approximately 13 billion tonnes of tailing waste annually. And that is only getting worse, with 2 trillion (yes, trillion) tonnes of waste forecasted to pollute our land by 2050. This got me thinking. What is being done about this? It’s so clear that mining is here to stay, and to be honest, are we really ready to hand over our mobile phones just yet? On a more serious note, what about our electric cars? They need mining. It does sound counterproductive to build a sustainable car with mined materials, but we’re probably best using our time to find ways to reduce, or maybe (wishful thinking) eliminate, mining’s impact on our environment, so we can keep getting closer to the eventual phase-out of petrol cars. One company, TOMRA, is doing just that. They’ve developed cutting-edge sensor-based ore sorting technology that: - Separates valuable ore from waste rock at the earliest stage of extraction - Eliminates barren rock, meaning less material enters the tailings facility - Significantly reduces the volume requiring energy-intensive processing, water-heavy milling, and chemical treatment — driving smarter operations and a smaller environmental footprint. - Removes acid-forming particles from waste rock, turning it into clean, stable, and saleable aggregate for construction or onsite infrastructure These small achievements in mining are part of a much bigger picture, and they are just a small part of AZoMining’s wider recognition of fascinating ways that companies and researchers are reducing the harm that mining undoubtedly causes. It reminds me every day that there is hope for the world, even in the places you least expect it.