Abstract
There are various existing practices and future potential for turning mining waste into valuable products. The inventory of the tailings in the metal mines in Finland showed that considerable concentrations of many critical metals are contained in the waste. However, the amounts of generated waste are so significant that the full implementation of circular economy is challenging. A combination of several different circular economy approaches (reduce, reprocess, upcycle, downcycle and dispose for future) is needed to manage the waste streams in mining in a holistic way. Various technologies are already in use for the recovery of metals from the tailings and for the use of the mineral residues in high and low-value products. The institutional framework has an impact on the economics of the valorisation of mine waste. Digitalisation can support in identifying where the biggest potential for valorisation exists. The rising concepts of digital material and product passports would support the circularity and the traceability of waste-based materials. • Finnish tailings contain considerable amounts of metals. • Holistic circular economy approaches are needed to manage the waste streams. • Technologies to recover metals and to use mineral residues are available. • Valorisation of mine waste depends on the institutional framework. • Digitalisation can support circularity of waste-based materials.
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