5-4 Management and Reclamation of Mine Tailings Project Scope and Relationship to China's Agenda 21 This project seeks to establish a new environmental protection industry and corresponding management system for the recovery and reclamation of valuable resources from the 300 million tons of mine tailings disposed of each year at metallic ore mines. This project is based on programme area 19D of China's Agenda 21 - Management of Waste Recycling - and will contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources and the sustainable development of industry (Chapters 12 and 14). 1. Background China's 8840 state-owned and 260,000 collective and individually-owned metallic ore mines discharge over 300 million tons of tailings each year, amounting in 1989 to over 30 percent of the total solid waste generated in China. Each year, these waste piles occupy an additional 2,000 hectares of precious land and cost over 10 billion yuan in maintenance, power consumption and wasted resources. A total of 4 billion tons of mine tailings are now stored in piles, presenting serious health hazards and contaminating the air, water and soil. China has recognized since the mid-1980s that these mine tailings contain valuable resources that, if recovered and reused, could provide a major source of income and employment. Development of such an industry is of critical importance since China estimates that by the year 2000, over half of the large and medium-sized mines and most of the township-run mines will have depleted their resources and have to either shift production or close down. The development of a mine tailing reutilization industry could help create sustainable livelihoods and avoid major economic and social dislocations, while at the same time significantly reducing environmental pollution. In 1990, the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences established the Technical Center for Tailings Utilization , the first of its kind in China, to explore the prospects for multipurpose reutilization of mine tailings. The Center analyzed the resource characteristics and potential of various types of mine tailings and developed technologies for making a number of valuable products from those tailings. These products include high-strength cements, ceramic building materials, non-calcified bricks and decorative materials made from glass-ceramic granite. The Center has shared the results of its work with over 200 organizations throughout the country, and received expressions of interest from firms in Canada, Republic of Korea, Singapore, New Zealand and Pakistan. China is now seeking international cooperation in a number of areas in order to translate these promising results into a comprehensive national system for the management of mine tailings. First, capacity building assistance is needed in order to develop a complete set of technical standards and management regulations as well as an information system, in order to establish a comprehensive and coordinated national program. A number of developed countries have had several decades of experience with such programs. Secondly, technical cooperation would enable China to develop more comprehensive recovery and reutilization methods, clean production technologies and higher quality end products. Finally, financial assistance would enable China to begin the demonstration phase at typical ferrous, non-ferrous and locally-run small mines. 2. Objectives Long-term Objectives To achieve comprehensive utilization of the tailings of existing mines, design new mines to be tailing-free, and transform one-fifth of all mines into tailing-free mines by the mid-21st century. Immediate Objectives Establish a complete set of management regulations and technical standards for the recovery and reutilization of mine tailings, designed to make mines tailing-free. Establish a national management and information system for the overall recovery, reutilization and clean production of mine tailings. Introduce and develop technologies, equipment and analytical instruments for the utilization of mine tailings. Establish three demonstration mines for the recovery and reutilization of mine tailings, which will serve as models in implementing relevant rules, regulations and standards. 3. Activities 3.1 Establish a complete set of management regulations and technical standards for the recovery and reutilization of mine tailings, designed to make mines tailing-free. Draft and promulgate management regulations concerning the overall utilization of mine tailings, the collection of sewage discharge fees, and the construction of tailings dams and deposits. Establish technical standards for the clean production and reutilization of tailings produced by the metallurgical, non-ferrous metals, chemical, building materials, coal, gold and nuclear industries, as well as for locally-run mines. Formulate technical standards for the classification and nomenclature of various types of mine tailings. Formulate standards for determining the resource characteristics of mine tailings, analysing and sampling, and development and utilization technologies . The duration of this activity will be 5 years. 3.2 Establish a data base and information system for the overall utilization of mine tailings. Establish a data base containing data regarding the type of mineral deposit, storage duration and quantity of tailings, amount of land space occupied, mineral variety and composition of tailings, strategy for reutilization of tailings, and the resulting social and economic benefits. 3.3 Introduce and develop technologies, equipment and analytical instruments for the utilization of mine tailings. Investigate the resource characteristics of mine tailings and methods of development and utilization. Investigate techniques and methods for determining the properties of tailings products. Introduce technologies for the extraction and recovery of useful metallic components (precious and rare metals) in mine tailings. Introduce technologies for the purification and processing of non-metallic minerals in mine tailings. Introduce technologies for making glass-ceramic products out of mine tailings. Strengthen and upgrade the Technical Center for Tailings Utilization. The project duration is 7 years. 3.4 Establish three demonstration mines for the recovery and reutilization of mine tailings, which will serve as models in implementing relevant rules, regulations and standards. Establish a demonstration project in a typical non-ferrous metal mine. Establish a demonstration project in a typical iron mine. Establish a demonstration project for the reutilization of tailings and the development of building materials products in a typical locally-run small polymetallic mine. The duration of this activity will be 3 years. This project will be implemented by the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources. 4. Inputs 4.1 Financial inputs The total funding required is US $20.8 million, including US $9 million in domestic funds, US $6 million in hard loans, US $5 million in soft loans, and US $0.80 in grant assistance. The hard loans will be allocated to the demonstration projects (Activity 3.4), the soft loans for technical cooperation (primarily Activity 3.3), and the grant assistance for capacity building (Activities 3.1 and 3.2). The breakdown of the inputs are shown in the following table: Budget (in million US dollars) Activity Chinese Input External Input Grant Soft-loan Loan Total 3.1 0.50 0.30 0.80 3.2 0.30 0.50 0.80 3.3 3.00 2.00 3.00 8.00 3.4 5.20 3.00 3.00 11.20 Total 9.00 0.80 5.00 6.00 20.80 4.2 Inputs of personnel, equipment and materials Domestic inputs will primarily be allocated to - Formulation of relevant rules, regulations and technical standards; - Establishment of the management information system; - Investigation on the utilization of mine tailings, the purchase of equipment, and the upgrading of the Tailings Utilization Technical Center; - Establishment of the demonstration projects. International inputs will primarily be allocated to - International experts in China; - Information exchange, transmission and communication; - Personnel training, workshops and seminars; - Purchase of instruments and equipment - Technologies for the extraction and recovery of precious metals, the purification and processing of non-metallic minerals, and the manufacture of glass-ceramic products from mine tailings. Soft loan repayment: the Technical Center for Tailings Utilization . Hard loan repayment: the Dexing Copper Mine of the Jiangxi Copper Company, the Qian'an Iron Mine of Hebei Province, and the Shaodong Lead-Zinc Mine of Hunan Province. 5. Benefits The findings and outputs of this project will be disseminated for application throughout China. As a result, about 70% of the existing mine tailings will be converted from waste material into usable resources, and the comprehensive reutilization rate will be raised from the current 8.2% to 50% or more, with corresponding environmental benefits for air, water and soil quality as well as land use. A new environmental protection industry for the reutilization of mine tailings will be formed, enabling China to receive a return on its investment of 20% or more. Valuable new resources and employment opportunities will be developed at a large number of mines that would otherwise face the prospect of shutdown due to depletion of existing mineral resources. This project would therefore contribute to the development of sustainable livelihoods and avoid major economic and social dislocations, while at the same time significantly reducing environmental pollution. 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