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Haque, N.; Norgate, T. |
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Title  |
The greenhouse gas footprint of in-situ leaching of uranium, gold and copper in Australia |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2014 |
Publication |
Journal of Cleaner Production |
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84 |
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382-390 |
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Keywords |
Copper, GHG emission, Gold, In-situ leaching, LCA, Uranium |
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Abstract |
In-situ leaching (ISL) is a chemical method for recovering useful minerals and metals directly from underground ore bodies which is also referred to as ‘solution mining’. ISL is commonly used for uranium mining, accounting for about 45% of global production. The main benefits are claimed to be a lower environmental impact in terms of visual disturbances, emissions, lower energy use, cost compared with conventional open-cut or underground mining methods, and potential utilisation of lower grade resources. However, there is a lack of reported studies on the assessment of the environmental impacts of ISL, particularly greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The SimaPro LCA software was used to estimate the GHG footprint of the ISL of uranium, gold and copper. The total GHG emissions were estimated to be 38.0 kg CO2-e/kg U3O8 concentrate (yellowcake), 29 t CO2-e/kg gold, and 4.78 kg CO2-e/kg Cu. The GHG footprint of ISL uranium was significantly lower than that of conventional mining, however, the footprints of copper and gold were not much less compared with conventional mining methods. This is due to the lower ore grade of ISL deposits and recovery compared with high ore grades and recovery of conventional technology. Additionally, the use of large amount of electricity for pumping in case of ISL contributes to this result. The electricity consumed in pumping leaching solutions was by far the greatest contributor to the well-field related activities associated with ISL of uranium, gold and copper. The main strategy to reduce the GHG footprint of ISL mining should be to use electricity derived from low emission sources. In particular, renewable sources such as solar would be suitable for ISL as these operations are typically in remote locations with smaller deposits compared with conventional mining sites. |
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0959-6526 |
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THL @ christoph.kuells @ haque_greenhouse_2014 |
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208 |
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Benites Lazaro, L.L.; Bellezoni, R.; Puppim de Oliveira, J.; Jacobi, P.R.; Giatti, L. |
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Title |
Ten Years of Research on the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: An Analysis of Topics Evolution |
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Journal Article |
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2022 |
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Frontiers in Water |
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4 |
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THL @ christoph.kuells @ article |
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86 |
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Author |
Abiye, T. |
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Title |
Synthesis on groundwater recharge in Southern Africa: A supporting tool for groundwater users |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2016 |
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Groundwater for Sustainable Development |
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2-3 |
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182-189 |
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Arid and semi-arid areas, Groundwater recharge, Recharge estimation methods, Southern Africa |
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This synthesis on groundwater recharge targets the Southern African region as a result of the dependence of the community and economic sector on the groundwater resource. Several literature based recharge studies were collected and assessed in order to find out the main controls to the occurrence of recharge. The Water Table Fluctuation and Base flow separation methods have been tested in the catchment that drains crystalline basement rocks and dolostones close to the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. Based on the assessed data the Chloride Mass Balance method resulted in groundwater recharge of less than 4% of the rainfall, while it reaches 20%, when rainfall exceeds 600mm. For the classical water balance method, recharge proportion is less than 3% of rainfall as a result of very high ambient temperature in the region. Based on the Saturated Volume Fluctuation and Water Table Fluctuation methods, recharge could be less than 6% for annual rainfall of less than 600mm. Observational results further suggest that sporadic recharge from high intensity rainfall has important contribution to the groundwater recharge in the region, owing to the presence of permeable geological cover, which could not be fully captured by most of the recharge estimation methods. This study further documents an evaluation of the most reliable recharge estimation methods in the area such as the chloride mass balance, saturated volume fluctuation and water table fluctuation methods in order to successfully manage the groundwater resource. |
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2352-801x |
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THL @ christoph.kuells @ abiye_synthesis_2016 |
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101 |
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Khaneiki, M.L.; Al-Ghafri, A.S.; Klöve, B.; Haghighi, A.T. |
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Title |
Sustainability and virtual water: The lessons of history |
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Journal Article |
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2022 |
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Geography and Sustainability |
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3 |
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4 |
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358-365 |
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Keywords |
Proto-industrialization, Water scarcity, Non-hydraulic polity, Virtual water, Political economy |
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This article aims to show that virtual water has historically been an adaptation strategy that enabled some arid regions to develop a prosperous economy without putting pressure on their scarce water resources. Virtual water is referred to as the total amount of water that is consumed to produce goods and services. As an example, in arid central Iran, the deficiency in agricultural revenues was offset by more investment in local industries that enjoyed a perennial capacity to employ more workers. The revenues of local industries weaned the population from irrigated agriculture, since most of their raw materials and also food stuff were imported from other regions, bringing a remarkable amount of virtual water. This virtual water not only sustained the region’s inhabitants, but also set the stage for a powerful polity in the face of a rapid population growth between the 13th and 15th centuries AD. The resultant surplus products entailed a vast and safe network of roads, provided by both entrepreneurs and government. Therefore, it became possible to import more feedstock such as cocoons from water-abundant regions and then export silk textiles with considerable value-added. This article concludes that a similar model of virtual water can remedy the ongoing water crisis in central Iran, where groundwater reserves are overexploited, and many rural and urban centers are teetering on the edge of socio-ecological collapse. History holds an urgent lesson on sustainability for our today’s policy that stubbornly peruses agriculture and other high-water-demand sectors in an arid region whose development has always been dependent on virtual water. |
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2666-6839 |
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THL @ christoph.kuells @ Khaneiki2022358 |
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272 |
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Author |
Liu, Z.; Li, C.; Tan, K.; Li, Y.; Tan, W.; Li, X.; Zhang, C.; Meng, S.; Liu, L. |
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Title |
Study of natural attenuation after acid in situ leaching of uranium mines using isotope fractionation and geochemical data |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2023 |
Publication |
Science of The Total Environment |
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865 |
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161033 |
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Keywords |
Acid in situ leaching, Geochemical and isotopic tracing, Groundwater contamination, Natural attenuation, Uranium post-mining |
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Acid in situ leaching (AISL) is a subsurface mining approach suitable for low-grade ores which does not generate tailings, and has been adopted widely in uranium mining. However, this technique causes an extremely high concentration of contaminants at post-mining sites and in the surroundings soon after the mining ceases. As a potential AISL remediation strategy, natural attenuation has not been studied in detail. To address this problem, groundwater collected from 26 wells located within, adjacent, upgradient, and downgradient of a post-mining site were chosen to analyze the fate of U(VI), SO42−, δ34S, and δ238U, to reveal the main mechanisms governing the migration and attenuation of the dominant contaminants and the spatio-temporal evolutions of contaminants in the confined aquifer of the post-mining site. The δ238U values vary from −0.07 ‰ to 0.09 ‰ in the post-mining site and from −1.43 ‰ to 0.03 ‰ around the post-mining site. The δ34S values were found to vary from 3.3 ‰ to 6.2 ‰ in the post-mining site and from 6.0 ‰ to 11.0 ‰ around the post-mining site. Detailed analysis suggests that there are large differences between the range of isotopic composition variation and the range of pollutants concentration distribution, and the estimated Rayleigh isotope fractionation factor is 0.9994–0.9997 for uranium and 1.0032–1.0061 for sulfur. The isotope ratio of uranium and sulfur can be used to deduce the migration history of the contaminants and the irreversibility of the natural attenuation process in the anoxic confined aquifer. Combining the isotopic fractionation data for U and S with the concentrations of uranium and sulfate improved the accuracy of understanding of reducing conditions along the flow path. The study also indicated that as long as the geological conditions are favorable for redox reactions, natural attenuation could be used as a cost-effective remediation scheme. |
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0048-9697 |
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THL @ christoph.kuells @ liu_study_2023 |
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155 |
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