March 28, 2024
Education News Canada

UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
UBC-led project combats emissions by locking carbon dioxide in mine waste

August 12, 2019

Two Canadian mines will pilot University of British Columbia-led research that combats greenhouse gas emissions by trapping carbon dioxide in mine tailings, the waste left over from ore mining.

The technology could drastically reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of mining operations and result in the world's first greenhouse gas neutral mine.

The project a collaboration between UBC, the University of Alberta, Trent University and Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) and three leading mining companies heads to the field this summer with a $2-million boost from Natural Resources Canada's (NRCan) Clean Growth Program. The funding was announced on July 23rd, 2019, in Yellowknife, N.W.T., as part of the program's investments into clean technology research and development in the Canadian mining sector.

The field trials build on more than a decade of research and will focus on new technologies that maximize the reaction between carbon dioxide (CO2) and magnesium silicate-rich mine tailings, the waste from mining nickel, diamond, platinum and other materials.

In a natural process called carbon mineralization, CO2 reacts with magnesium silicate and hydroxide minerals in tailings. The reaction traps the greenhouse gas into a solid, cement-like mineral, where it can remain in a benign state for thousands of years or more.

"We estimate that reacting just 10 per cent of a mine's waste stream could be more than enough to offset the annual carbon emissions produced by a mining operation," said Greg Dipple, project lead and professor at the Bradshaw Research Initiative for Minerals and Mining (BRIMM) at UBC. "This generous funding from the government and support from our industry partners will allow us to move these technologies to a larger scale at active mine sites."

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For more information

University of British Columbia
2329 West Mall
Vancouver British Columbia
Canada V6T 1Z4
www.ubc.ca/


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