Recovery of critical and other raw materials from mining waste and landfills

The transition to a more circular economy is essential to develop a sustainable, low carbon, resource efficient, and competitive economy in the EU. In this context Critical Raw Materials (CRM) are defined as those which are of particularly great importance to the EU economy and at the same time there is a high risk of supply disruptions. First and foremost, improving the circular use of CRM is a key strategy in improving the security of supply and not surprisingly is an objective of various policy documents. This report delivers on action #39 of the Circular Economy Action Plan: "Sharing of best practice for the recovery of critical raw materials from mining waste and landfills". It builds on discussions held during two 2018 workshops and gathers together six examples of existing practices for the recovery of critical, precious, and other materials from extractive waste and landfills, highlighting technological innovation and contributions that have been made to a more comprehensive knowledge-base on raw materials. The report also provides various estimates of potential recovery of certain materials compared to their current demand. Lessons learnt from the practices include awareness that it is very unlikely that recovery processes can target one or just a few specific materials of great interest and disregard other elements or bulk matrixes. Especially in case of very low concentrations, most of the mineral resources and other bulk materials in which they are embedded must be valorised in order to increase economic viability and minimise waste disposal. As recovery processes can be very energy intensive, environmental and land use related aspects are also particularly relevant even though environmental gains may also occur and, moreover, land space can be liberated and reused for new purposes and services. Finally, availability of data and information on secondary materials as well as a harmonized legislative framework within the EU appear to be crucial for the large-scale deployment of recovery practices.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

Sequential extraction of carbonaceous siltstone rock for multielement analysis by ICP OES

The carbonaceous siltstone rock material is a disseminated sulfide-rich sedimentary rock from a sedimenthosted gold deposit of Bakyrchik. The Bakyrchik deposit is located in Eastern Kazakhstan, which includes in Qalba gold province. The main purpose of this paper is a demonstration on chemical extraction of heavy metals from the carbonaceous siltstone rock and detection of its elemental concentrations. In the work was used a rock sample from the deposit which is a sericizited carbonaceous-siltstone rock. In sequential extraction method was selected four stages such as water soluble fraction (reaction with deionized water) for extraction of water soluble metals, reducible metal fraction (reaction with hydroxyl ammonium chloride) for extracting all reducible metals, organics and sulfides (reaction with hydrogen peroxide) for dissolution of organics and copper sulfide, and extraction of metal oxides and residual fraction (reaction with aqua regia) for extracting of all remaining metals. The paper comprises analytical methods for research outlooks. They are X-Ray Diffraction (determination of mineralogical composition), X-Ray Fluorescence (determination of chemical composition) and Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optical Emission Spectrometry (determination of heavy metal concentrations)

European guidelines for quality assurance in colorectal cancer screening and diagnosis: overview and introduction to the full supplement publication

Population-based screening for early detection and treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC) and precursor lesions, using evidence-based methods, can be effective in populations with a significant burden of the disease provided the services are of high quality. Multidisciplinary, evidence-based guidelines for quality assurance in CRC screening and diagnosis have been developed by experts in a project co-financed by the European Union. The 450-page guidelines were published in book format by the European Commission in 2010.\u200a They include 10 chapters and over 250 recommendations, individually graded according to the strength of the recommendation and the supporting evidence. Adoption of the recommendations can improve and maintain the quality and effectiveness of an entire screening process, including identification and invitation of the target population, diagnosis and management of the disease and appropriate surveillance in people with detected lesions. To make the principles, recommendations and standards in the guidelines known to a wider professional and scientific community and to facilitate their use in the scientific literature, the original content is presented in journal format in an open-access Supplement of Endoscopy. The editors have prepared the present overview to inform readers of the comprehensive scope and content of the guidelines