2021 Virtual Undergraduate Research Symposium
2021 Virtual Undergraduate Research Symposium
Sustainable Use of Earth Resource Materials – Glass From Tailings
Sustainable Use of Earth Resource Materials – Glass From Tailings
PROJECT NUMBER: 56 | AUTHOR: Lauren Holt, Geology and Geological Engineering
MENTOR: Katharina Pfaff, Geology and Geological Engineering
ABSTRACT
In the mining industry, one of the many ways that companies dispose of their mining waste is through tailings dams and ponds. Tailings have a negative environmental and societal impact because tailings can contain various elements and minerals that pose a risk to the environment. To decrease the amount of waste product from mines, the project “Sustainable Use of Earth Resource Materials – Glass From Tailings” aims to examine samples from various mine tailings to determine tailings can be transformed or repurposed. The first phase in this project is to characterize the mineralogy and geochemistry of the tailing samples and then examining the data to determine if new products could be produced from the tailing samples; including products like glass. The project commenced with three samples from actives mines. Samples were sieved and split by size fractions ranging from +4 to -400 on the Tyler Standard Screen size range. These samples were then dried and split into the proper mass required to be put into epoxy mounts for TIMA from TESCAN for automated mineralogy analysis in the Minerals and Materials Characterization Facility. The excess material was used for XRF and XRD analyses. This array of methods creates a good understanding of what the tailings consist of, including the mineralogy of the grains in the mounted epoxy based on particle size, to the highest abundant mineral in each size fraction. The main constituent found in all samples was an abundance of silica. Looking forward, the results from these tests will then be used by colleagues from extractive metallurgy to further improve our understanding of the behavior of this material during melting to see if glass is a viable product to be made from mine waste.
PRESENTATION
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Lauren Holt is a Junior attending the Colorado School of Mines pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Geological Engineering under the Geology and Geological Engineering department. She worked under the same department as her major for her research and gained hands-on experience regarding sample prep and methods of analysis including automated mineralogy helping her gain experience in the lab while also furthering her knowledge in her degree. Looking to the future for research, she hopes to continue working on this project in later phases as well as work on more projects relating to increasing the sustainability of the mining industry.
Hi Lauren. This is a very creative and innovative project that is pertinent to many companies today. If the main constituent of the waste is silica based, what other resources could be produced other than glass? Could this project appeal to a larger audience to then decrease overall waste by a certain amount ?
Hi Chad,
Yes, this can be applied to a variety of products! Some products that have already been repurposed include not only glass but also material for bulletproof vests. This also depends on the composition of the waste found in the tailings to determine the variability of the repurposing opportunities.
I understand that the samples you worked with are toxic. Can you identify the toxins in your samples?
If you extract the silica and create glass from your samples, won’t the toxins concentration increase is the soil?
Hi Shaked,
The main toxins within our sample would be the leftover metals and REE. The amounts found in our size fractions were fairly minuscule. Despite the amount, the idea with creating glass is that the elements of concern will be fixated into the glass without being liberated. This would then decrease the waste, but also the toxins present. This will be further researched in a subsequent study and how we can more efficiently reduce toxin levels while still creating quality glass products.
Lauren this is a very creative and unique idea. Do you know if it is economically feasible to make this idea a reality? It is one thing to make it scientifically possible and it is another thing to make it economically possible.
Hi Jimmy,
This concept will be further explored as our research continues, and may even be a focus on how we can make production more economical. For mining companies, many methods to dispose of tailings are fairly costly, resulting in the numerous tailings ponds we find because it is cheaper. While companies do want to look to reduce waste, having a cost-effective solution will incentivize these companies to repurpose their tailings.