Environmental impact of industrial and mining activities

Duration

25h Th, 1d FW, 25h Labo., 5h Proj.

Number of credits

Lecturer

Stoyan Gaydardzhiev

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

The activities related to sustainable exploitation of primary and secondary resources word wide are associated with strong environmental pressure. Therefore it is imperative for an engineer to be aware about the administrative and legislative procedures linked to environmental impact studies during industrial and mining activities. The legal requirements and the procedures differ from country to country. During this course the following aspects will be covered:

The role of the mining industry in sustainable supply of primary resources, EMP (environmental management plan) and auditing, waste management and environmental control, effluents treatment and TMF - tailings management facilities construction and management, post-mining activities and sites rehabilitation, mining wastes characterisation. Historical examples of mining pollution - case studies. The principle geochemical risks linked to management of mining and industrial tailings will be presented, together with those related to the long-term fate of tailings from mineral concentration plants. The environmental issues linked to small scale mining and artisanal operations are covered as well.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

Get aware the students with the main effects which the industrial and mining activities bear on environment

After attending the cours the students will be able to

- understand the management aspects of mining and industrial activities and their implication to the local legislation and the conservation of natural resources.

- get acquainted and being able to analyse the pros and the cons of the different methods for rehabilitation of industrial and mining sites

The practical excercises supervised by assistant will help students to develop the above mentioned personal skills by working on concrete case-studies (e.g. mineralogical analyses of real mineral samples, Acid Mine Generation (AMD) potential of a mine waste, analysing the acid generation and neutralisation potential of various minerals, etc.). 

This course contributes to the learning outcomes I.2, III.2, IV.2, V.1, V.2, VII.3, VII.4, VII.5 of the MSc in geological and mining engineering.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

A basic knowldge in chemistry (general reactions) is compulsory. A knowledge about the mineral processing techniques is desirable.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

The course includes lectures (25 h) covering the theoretical aspects, practical lab works and site visits
The lab classes (including calculations) will cover the following aspects:
Acid generation capacities of mine/industrial wastes; Acid neutralising features of mine wastes; Estimation of potential degree of mobility for certain heavy metal elements. Testing two different minerals using different protocols for AMD estimation. Microscopic observations of polished sections coming from the characterisation tests mentioned above. A case-study illustrating the importance to predict the AMD generation capacity and involving mineralogical observation of a real sample. Specifc sampels coming out from the AMD estiamtion will be inspected under microscope in order to reveal the effect from sulphides liberation degree. 
The results from the lab tests (in groups) should be delivered as written report and presented orally.

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face course


Additional information:

Face-to-face but could differ as function of how the epidemic situation evolves

First quadrimester - Wednesdays - PM


Lectures, lab works, site visits, seminars. The lectures are delivered in English. Lab work instructions will be available to students before each practical.

Recommended or required readings

Lecture material as pdf files will be available at the Ecampus platform.
Literature:
Bernd G. Lottermoser, Mine Wastes -Characterization, Treatment, Environmental Impacts, Springer, Second Edition (2007) - available in pdf form at e-campus
Sustainable development and the future of mineral investment (2000) in Otto J. & Cordes J (eds), UN Publications ; Christopher Wood. (1997)
Mining and Environment:From Ore to Metal, Karl-Heinz Spitz, CRC Press, 2008
Environmental impact assessment - a comparative review, Longman; Larry Canter. Environmental impact assessment, (1997) McGraw Hill Int.; Environmental Management in the Australian Minerals and Energy Industries - principles and practices, (1999) D. Mulligan (ed.) UNSW press book.

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

written exam ( open-ended questions )

Written work / report


Additional information:

The students could be questioned either in English or in French.

Normal situation: The exam will be a written one involving short and long questions to be answered.

The final mark is composed from the following credits (in %): 

Written exam with open questions (short / long) - 70 %   

Evalaution of the witten report from the practical sessions (quality of report, level of presentation, answering questions and discussion on results) - 25 %

Activity during laboratory excercise (individual marking) - 5 %

 

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

The cours is delivered during the first quadrimester

lectures are held on Thursdays pm , place: B52 (-1/433)

Contacts

Stoyan GAYDARDZHIEV - Prof. B 52/3, office -1/412, 04 3669120
S.Gaydardzhiev@ulg.ac.be



Mohamed AATACH , Teaching Assistant B 52/3, -1/512

Mohamed.Aatach@ulg.ac.be

Association of one or more MOOCs

Items online