INDICADORES AMBIENTALES PARA LA VALORACIÓN DE IMPACTOS EN EL TRATAMIENTO DE RESIDUOS MINEROS.

Abstract

Mining industry generates a great amount of waste in the concentration process, which must be stored in ponds and landfills. In order to reduce storage requirements, some waste treatments recover most of the water, transforming waste into a viscous fluid or paste. This treatment involves the installation of equipment and energy consumption for thickening and pumping. Efforts have been made to compare different treatments of solid waste by complex methodologies such as Life Cycle Assessment. But advantages like the reduction of water consumption (not adequately reflected in the Life Cycle Analysis), the relationship between treatment and the facility dismantling process, among others; are not adequately described. Another factor that must be considered, given the huge volume stored, is the failure risk, with serious environmental consequences. Existing methodologies for analyzing life cycle impacts are preferably oriented to industry, so in this paper a proposal of an adaptation that keeps in mind the peculiarities of the mining sector is presented.