Minerals, Metals. and Sustainability. Meeting Future Material Needs. W.J. Rankin, CSIRO

Transcription

1 Minerals, Metals and Sustainability Meeting Future Material Needs W.J. Rankin, CSIRO

2 Contents Preface Acknowledgements xv xvii 1 Introduction 1 2 Materials and the materials cycle Natural resources Materials, goods and services The material groups Biomass Plastics Metals and alloys Silicates and other inorganic compounds The materials cycle The recyclability of materials Quantifying the materials cycle Materials and energy balances Material flow analysis References Useful sources of information 24 3 An introduction to Earth The crust The hydrosphere and biosphere Life on Earth The Earth's biomes Ecosystem services Some implications of the basic laws of science Thermal energy flows to the biosphere and hydrosphere The greenhouse effect The Sun as driver of both change and order The biogeochemical cycles The carbon and oxygen cycles The water cycle The nitrogen cycle The phosphorus cycle 38

3 vi Minerals, Metals and Sustainability The sulfur cycle References Useful sources of information 40 4 An introduction to sustainability The environmental context The state of the environment The ecological footprint The tragedy of the commons A brief history of the idea of sustainability The rising public awareness International developments Corporate developments The concepts of sustainable development and sustainability Alternative definitions of sustainability Interpretations of sustainability Responses to the challenge of sustainability Sustainability frameworks Triple bottom line Eco-efficiency The Natural Step Natural Capitalism Biomimicry The five capitals model Green chemistry and green engineering Putting the frameworks into context A model of sustainability References Useful sources of information 61 5 Mineral resources Formation of the Earth The geological time scale Formation of the crust Continental crust Oceanic crust The distribution of elements Minerals and rocks Mineral classes Rock classes 75

4 Contents vii The rock cycle Mineral deposits Formation of mineral deposits Common forms of mineral deposits The distribution of base and precious metal deposits Resources and reserves Extracting value from the crust Physical separation Chemical separation The effect of breakage on the surface area of materials By-products and co-products The efficiency of extraction References Useful sources of information 95 6 The minerals industry Mineral commodities Traded commodities Mineral commodity statistics Reserves and resources of mineral commodities How mineral commodities are traded Mineral and metal markets The complexities of trading mineral commodities The economic value of mineral commodities Hotelling's rule Limitations of Hotelling's rule The mining project cycle Exploration Evaluation and development Design, construction and commissioning Production Project decline and closure, remediation and restoration The nature of the minerals industry Location Hazardous nature Size and structure Minerals companies Industry associations Industry culture Trends shaping the industry 121

5 j vim MmeraH, Metah and SusUtnabtHty 6.6 The economic and social impacts of mining Mining as a route to development The resources curse Artisanal and small-scale mining The minerals industry and sustainable development Industry developments and formation of the ICMM Sustainability reporting and sustainability indicators Status of the industry References Useful sources of information Producing ores and concentrates Extracting rock from the crust Surface mining Underground mining Solution mining Beneficiating mined material Size reduction Separating particles Separating solids from water Agglomerating particles Examples of mineral beneficiation flowsheets Mineral sand concentrates Production of iron ore fines and lump Base metal sulfide concentrates References Useful sources of information Producing metals and manufactured mineral products Theoretical considerations Metals The principles of metal extraction Metallurgical reactors Smelting Leaching The stages in the extraction of a metal The production of some important metals Cement and concrete Glass 185

6 Contents ix 8.5 Mineral fertilisers Commodity ceramics References Useful sources of information Energy consumption in primary production Direct and indirect energy and gross energy requirement Embodied energy Calculation of embodied energy Values of embodied energy Embodied energy and global warming potential Hydrometallurgy versus pyrometallurgy Global greenhouse gas production Impact of the source of electricity used The effect of declining ore grade and liberation size on energy consumption The lower limits of energy consumption Energy required for moving materials Energy required for sorting and separating material Energy required for chemical processing Energy sustainability indicators and reporting References The role of water in primary production Global water resources Water in the minerals industry The embodied water content of metals Water sustainability indicators and reporting References 10.6 Useful sources of information Wastes from primary production Wastes and their origin Solid wastes Calculation of the quantities of solid wastes Quantities produced Liquid wastes Wastewater Acid and metalliferous drainage Gaseous wastes 232

7 Mirwats, Mrt»!» <nnl 5ust»*n»Mity The types of gases produced in smelting The quantities of gas produced in smelting The impact of wastes on humans and the environment Examples of the impacts of mining wastes Toxicity Bioavailability The international regulation of wastes The Basel Convention REACH and the European Chemicals Agency Implications of the Basel Convention and REACH References Useful sources of information Management of wastes from primary production Management of solid wastes Waste rock Tailings Residues from leaching operations and water treatment Slags Management of liquid wastes Technologies for water treatment Management of cyanide solutions Management of AMD Gaseous wastes Gas cooling and heat recovery Gas cleaning Sulfur dioxide removal Waste, effluent and emission sustainability indicators References Useful sources of information Secondary materials and recycling Options for end-of-life products Recycling Reuse Remanufacturing Drivers of recycling, reuse and remanufacturing The benefits and limitations of recycling Recycling terminology 274

8 Contents 13.5 Recovery, recycling and return rates for common materials The energy required for recycling The Gross Energy Requirement for recycling The effect of repeated recycling The effect of recycling on resource life Recycling materials from simple products Construction and demolition wastes Glass Metals Recycling materials from complex products Cars Waste electrical and electronic equipment Design for the Environment References Useful sources of information 294 The future availability of minerals and metals The determinants of long-term supply Potential sources of minerals Crustal resources The distribution of the elements in the crust The mineralogical barrier Hubbert's curve and the concept of peak minerals Are many mineral deposits still to be discovered? Crustal rocks as a source of scarce elements Resources in seawater Resources on the seabed Deposits originating from land sources Deposits originating from sources in ocean basins Deposits originating from sources on continents and in ocean basins Recovery and processing of deep ocean deposits Legal aspects: the Convention of the Sea Summary and conclusions References Useful sources of information 314 The future demand for minerals and metals The determinants of long-term demand Projections of the demand for mineral commodities 316

9 xii Minerals, Metals and Sustainability 15.3 Materials and technological substitution Substitution limits and constraints Dematerialisation Intensity-of-use Drivers of dematerialisation Counters to dematerialisation A case study The IPAT equation Summary and conclusions References Useful sources of information Towards zero waste The waste hierarchy Reducing and eliminating wastes Cleaner production Wastes as raw materials Waste reduction through process re-engineering Examples of flowsheet simplification Examples of novel equipment Examples of novel processing conditions Industrial ecology Making it happen References Useful sources of information Towards sustainability Closing the materials cycle The ICCM stewardship model The Five Winds stewardship model An integrated strategy for the minerals and metals sector Drivers of stewardship Market- and policy-based approaches to transitioning to sustainability What does the future hold? The'Great Transition'scenario The World Business Council for Sustainable Development scenario Summary and conclusions References 380

10 Contents xiii Appendix I: A note on units and quantities 383 International System of Units 383 Scientific notation, significant figures and order of magnitude 383 Appendix II: A review of some important scientific concepts The nature ofmatter Conservation ofmatter Energy, heat and the laws ofthermodynamics Electromagnetic radiation Heat transfer 393 Appendix III: GRI Sustainability Indicators 395 Appendix IV: Processing routes for extraction of common metals from their ores 401 Index 407 Elements arranged in alphabetical order 420 The Periodic Table 422