this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2024
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Reclamation - restoring disturbed lands
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Yeah, I suppose if anything, that material isn't going to be dropped right back where they pulled it, so that's going to be a big benefit.
I'm not up on all the chemistry involved, but would either the cyanide process or acid leeching also pull out the other heavy metals that they are concerned about? If so, that should make the tailings at least more inert, right?
Yeah, often mines produce more than one metal. Copper and Zinc, or copper and molybdenum are often produced together. Similarly, gold and silver are often produced together. The issue is that there are still residual metals that are not extracted or are only partially extracted, with residual levels beyond those that are safe for human health.