A new procedure for deep sea mining tailings disposal

Journal article (2017)

Authors

W. Ma Transport Engineering and Logistics - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
D.L. Schott Transport Engineering and Logistics - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
G. Lodewijks University of New South Wales
Research Group
Transport Engineering and Logistics (Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2017 W. Ma, D.L. Schott, G. Lodewijks
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/min7040047
More Info
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Published Date

2017

Language

English

Faculty

Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering

Department

Marine and Transport Technology

Research Group

Transport Engineering and Logistics

Abstract

Deep sea mining tailings disposal is a new environmental challenge related to water pollution, mineral crust waste handling, and ocean biology. The objective of this paper is to propose a new tailings disposal procedure for the deep sea mining industry. Through comparisons of the tailings disposal methods which exist in on-land mining and the coastal mining fields, a new tailings disposal procedure, i.e., the submarine–backfill–dam–reuse (SBDR) tailings disposal procedure, is proposed. It combines deep sea submarine tailings disposal, backfill disposal, tailings dam disposal, and tailings reuse disposal for the deep sea mining industry. Then, the analytic network process (ANP) method is utilized to evaluate the performances of different tailings disposal methods. The evaluation results of the ANP show that the new proposed tailings disposal procedure is the most suitable for the deep sea mining industry