Assessment of recovery opportunities and environmental impact of mining residues from Moldova Noua tailings pond

Considering the continued increase in demand for mining products used in industry along with the limitations of the existing resources, a possible solution is to capitalize mining residues and recover useful elements. Besides the economic aspect that arises with the recovery of secondary raw materials, the potential impact of these residues on the environment must be analyzed, in order to adopt the most adequate sustainable remediation solutions. Thus, the present paper aims to assess the mining residues present in the tailings pond from Moldova Noua, Romania in order to identify the opportunity to recover critical elements and to establish their potential impact to the soil. In this respect, samples taken from the tailings pond were characterized by X-ray fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The density and porosity of the samples were also determined. The results indicate high porosity of the samples and the presence of Cu in form of calcopirite and borite ores, along with other types of minerals.