Mining Waste as an Exploration Tool and Secondary Resource

Abstract

There is today no overall information about how much mining waste there is in Sweden and what it contains. This project focused on samples from waste rock, tailings and slag from the historical mining region Bergslagen, Sweden. Modern dissolution and analytical methods were used in order to determine approximately 50 elements in the samples. Modern analytical data for the historical mining waste is useful as an exploration tool and can provide information about remaining or new resources underground. Results show that there is a potential for recovery of critical elements from mining waste as well as dealing with environmental problems