Integrated Mineral Carbonation of Ultramafic Mine Deposits—A Review

• Main Authors: Jiajie Li, Michael Hitch, Ian M. Power, Yueyi Pan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-04-01
• Series: Minerals
• Subjects: CO2 sequestration; mineral carbonation; ultramafic tailings; mine waste
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/8/4/147

Recently, integrated mineral carbonation for CO2 sequestration has received significant attention due to the high potential for commercialization towards mitigating climate change. This review compiles the work conducted by various researchers over the last few years on integrated mineral carbonation processes in the mining industry, which use ultramafic mine wastes as feedstock for mineral carbonation. Here, we introduce the basic concepts of mineral carbonation including a brief description of the process routes and pre-treatment techniques. We discuss the scope of integrated mineral carbonation process application, and critically review the integrated mineral carbonation process in the mining industry including modified passive carbonation techniques in tailing storage facilities, and ex-situ carbonation routes using fresh tailings. The focus of the discussions is the role of reaction condition on the carbonation efficiency of mine waste with various mineralogical compositions, and the benefits and drawbacks of each integrated mineral carbonation process. All discussions lead to suggestions for the technological improvement of integrated mineral carbonation. Finally, we review the techno-economic assessments on existing integrated mineral carbonation technologies. Research to date indicates that value-added by-products will play an important role in the commercialization of an integrated mineral carbonation process.