Sustainability is often defined as: the ability to continue a defined behavior indefinitely. However, considering the nature of mining operations, this cannot be meant with the phrase “Sustainability in Mining”. Sustainability in the mining industry should be understood in the same way as sustainability in environmental science: meeting the resources and services needs of current and future generations without compromising the health of the ecosystems that provide them. A number of aspects of this are addressed in this chapter: use of energy, use of water, land disruption, reducing waste (involving solid waste, liquid waste, and gaseous waste), acid rock drainage when dealing with sulfide minerals, and restoring environmental functions at mine sites after mining has been completed. To do everything in an environmentally sound way is costly, but in the end necessary. Regarding this, it is concluded that governmental regulations concerning emission of waste, storage of waste and re-use of the land after mining are essential to provide a sustainable form of mining and mineral processing.

Deze publicatie bevat een gedetailleerd historisch overzicht van de voormalige kolenmijnen die Zuid-Limburg domineerden van het begin van de 20ste eeuw tot halverwege de jaren zeventig. Het mijnbouwgebied was gelocaliseerd in het zuiden van Nederland, grenzend aan Duitsland en België.

Vitrification is considered to be an attractive technology for bottom ash treatment because it destroys the hazardous organics, contributes to immobilization of the heavy metals, and additionally it reduces drastically the volume. The main components of the vitrified bottom ash slag are SiO2 , CaO, Al2 O3 , Fe2 O3 , Na 2 O and MgO, and the compositions have direct effect on the glass formation during vitrification, and further on the physical and mechanical properties of the slag. To provide essential data for the utilization of bottom ash as vitrified slag, the phase relations and thermodynamic properties of the oxide system need to be systematically investigated. In the present study, the liquidus temperature of the typical vitrified bottom ash slag was determined by using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) measurement. High temperature equilibrium experiments were conducted to investigate the phase relations of the vitrified slag and sub-oxide system CaO-SiO2 - Na2 O by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Electron Microprobe Analysis (EMPA) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The results show that the melting temperature of the vitrified bottom ash is around 1120°C. In the CaO-SiO2 - Na 2 O system with less than 50 mol% SiO2 , the liquidus temperature increases with increasing amounts of Na2 O along the tie-line of Na 2 O- Ca 3 Si 2 O 7 . The ompound of Na 2 Ca 3 Si 2 O 8 is identified in the oxide system.

Dit artikel vertelt in kort bestek de ontstaansgeschiedenis van de Nederlandse steenkolenwinning, die in hoofdzaak in de vorige eeuw plaatsvond in Zuid-Limburg. De winning van steenkool vond in die tijd plaats door een vijftal mijnbouwmaatschappijen: Oranje-Nassau Mijnen, De Nederlandse Staatsmijnen (DSM), Laura en Vereeniging, Willem-Sophia, en de Domaniale Mijnmaatschappij. De winning van steenkool in Limburg heeft echter zijn oorsprong in de Middeleeuwen.

Although micron-size particles of metallic gold are observed at the Zarshuran gold deposit, northwest Iran, the quantities do not account for the gold concentrations determined by chemical analyses. The presence of invisible gold has been established by means of trace element electron microprobe analyses of pyrite, arsenian pyrite, orpiment, realgar, stibnite, getchellite, sphalerite, and lead sulfosalts. Quantitative point analyses indicate that invisible gold is present in anhedral pyrite, arsenian pyrite overgrowth rims on gold- and arsenic-free euhedral pyrite, in massive, network, and colloform arsenian pyrite, and in massive and colloform sphalerite intimately intergrown with colloform arsenian pyrite. Gold in these forms adequately explains the measured gold concentrations at Zarshuran. The invisible gold owes its origin to solid-solution deposition and/or encapsulation of submicron-size particles of metallic gold.

X-ray powder diffraction data are reported for α-brass with the composition Cu: 63.44±0.04 wt %, Zn: 36.45±0.06 wt %. No valid reference card for this material is present in the JCPDS-ICDD database. The investigated brass composition is cubic (Fm3m) with a0: 3.69612±0.00014 Å, unit cell volume: 50.4938±0.0058 Å3, density calculated: 8.44±0.05 g/cm3, density measured: 8.43±0.03 g/cm3. The X-ray diffraction pattern presented resembles that of deleted reference card 6-657 in great detail.

Within the Nkombwa Hill carbonatite complex, bastnäsite-(Ce), (Ce,La)CO3F, has been identified as an abundant mineral in xenoliths hosted by late-stage ferrocarbonatite sills and dykes. Bastnäsite-(Ce) occurs as fibrous yellow crystals, about 1 µm in size, replacing monazite and in association with baryte, in a matrix of dolomite. In common with bastnäsite-(Ce) from other locations, the bastnäsite-(Ce) of Nkombwa Hill contains up to 70% RE2O3, almost entirely as light rare-earth oxides. However, Nkombwa Hill bastnäsite-(Ce) is relatively deficient in La and enriched in Pr and Nd.