Tracing the origins of metals and mapping the potential of mining waste could transform the path toward a more sustainable mineral industry, with the Nordic countries at the forefront of this shift.
With a substantial supply potential for critical raw materials and a rich mining, production and processing heritage, the Nordic countries have set ambitious goals to curtail the sector's environmental and climate impact.
Last week, the Nordic geological surveys, supported by Nordic Innovation, launched concepts for geochemical methods to tracing the origin of metals in technological products as part of The Sustainable Minerals Program.
- Through the traceability project, we can differentiate ourselves a bit from the countries that don’t have the frontrunner position and don’t have the ethical standards that we do, and maybe in the long run, we can get paid for that. Right now, it’s just a commodity, and it’s hard to prove where the materials come from, says Håkan Lind, senior advisor at Nordic Innovation.
Building awareness
Tracing the metals can shed light on some of today’s troubling issues regarding the value chain.
-It's especially important for the end users to understand where the metals are coming from in the products they buy. Knowing which country the metal or product is coming from will enable us, as customers and as end users, to understand how well the country of origin is working in terms of legislation, in terms of human rights, and even regarding child labor questions, says Piia Suvio, the director of metallurgical Process Development at Metso, providing sustainable technologies, solutions, and services for the aggregates, minerals processing, and metals refining industries globally.
Adding value to waste
The Nordic countries share data and methodologies for mapping mining waste as secondary resources, but every site is unique and must be investigated accordingly.
- We need to map, characterize, and find out what is there, and this is not necessarily straightforward. We need to apply the correct tools to be able to determine the quality and quantity of the different disposal sites, says Henrik Schiellerup, Director of Resources and Environment at NGU.
The potential for recovering secondary resources from waste may be more significant than what exploration and mining companies currently realize. Yet, it could still fall short of the expectations held by the most enthusiastic supporters.
- Some mining companies know they are depositing waste that may become future resources. However, in most cases, they are depositing material they don’t know how to utilize and are very concerned about this. Much effort is invested into developing new side streams from mining activities, such as construction materials. But we are talking about vast amounts of waste, and reducing all the waste in the world to zero is probably impossible, says Schiellerup.
