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Waste not, profit much: toxic tailings in Canada could ’re-mined’ for billions of dollars in critical minerals, report says
Toxic tailings discarded at some 10,000 abandoned mines together with those currently being produced by 200 others in operation across Canada could hide a multi-billion-dollar market opportunity as demand for critical minerals explodes globally in the coming decades, a new study has concluded.
Tailings – a byproduct of large-scale mining operations – could be changed “from a liability into asset” by monetizing recovered minerals and metals from current waste for use in renewable energy technologies, data centres, and defence applications, said the report from Action Canada, a leader development programme.
There would also be a win-win beyond the financial in “re-mining” this huge network of decommissioned and operational mines. Removing tailings, which can pollute soil and water tables, would have a positive environmental impact, and redevelopment would aid in reconciliation efforts with Indigenous populations whose land neighbours much of Canada’s mining heartlands.
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