A Life Cycle Assessment of Silica Sand: Comparing the Beneficiation Processes

A Life Cycle Assessment of Silica Sand: Comparing the Beneficiation Processes

Silica sand or quartz sand is a mineral resource with a wide variety of application; glass industry, construction and foundry are the most common examples thereof. The Republic of Croatia has reserves of 40 million tons of silica sand and a long tradition of surface mining and processing. The averag...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Anamarija Grbeš
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2015-12-01
Series:Sustainability
Subjects:
silica
quartz
life cycle assessment
environmental impact
mining
mineral processing
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/1/11
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spelling doaj-25b9ffefc3c042c491dc07c1736173b22020-11-24T22:21:02ZengMDPI AGSustainability2071-10502015-12-01811110.3390/su8010011su8010011A Life Cycle Assessment of Silica Sand: Comparing the Beneficiation ProcessesAnamarija Grbeš0Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering, University of Zagreb, Pierottijeva 6, Zagreb 10000, CroatiaSilica sand or quartz sand is a mineral resource with a wide variety of application; glass industry, construction and foundry are the most common examples thereof. The Republic of Croatia has reserves of 40 million tons of silica sand and a long tradition of surface mining and processing. The average annual production of raw silica sand in Croatia in the period from 2006 to 2011 amounted to 150 thousand tons. This paper presents cradle to gate LCA results of three different types of beneficiation techniques: electrostatic separation; flotation; gravity concentration. The aim of this research is to identify and quantify the environmental impacts of the silica sand production, to learn the range of the impacts for different processing methods, as well as to identify the major contributors and focus for further process design development.http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/1/11silicaquartzlife cycle assessmentenvironmental impactminingmineral processing
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Anamarija Grbeš
spellingShingle Anamarija Grbeš
A Life Cycle Assessment of Silica Sand: Comparing the Beneficiation Processes
Sustainability
silica
quartz
life cycle assessment
environmental impact
mining
mineral processing
author_facet Anamarija Grbeš
author_sort Anamarija Grbeš
title A Life Cycle Assessment of Silica Sand: Comparing the Beneficiation Processes
title_short A Life Cycle Assessment of Silica Sand: Comparing the Beneficiation Processes
title_full A Life Cycle Assessment of Silica Sand: Comparing the Beneficiation Processes
title_fullStr A Life Cycle Assessment of Silica Sand: Comparing the Beneficiation Processes
title_full_unstemmed A Life Cycle Assessment of Silica Sand: Comparing the Beneficiation Processes
title_sort life cycle assessment of silica sand: comparing the beneficiation processes
publisher MDPI AG
series Sustainability
issn 2071-1050
publishDate 2015-12-01
description Silica sand or quartz sand is a mineral resource with a wide variety of application; glass industry, construction and foundry are the most common examples thereof. The Republic of Croatia has reserves of 40 million tons of silica sand and a long tradition of surface mining and processing. The average annual production of raw silica sand in Croatia in the period from 2006 to 2011 amounted to 150 thousand tons. This paper presents cradle to gate LCA results of three different types of beneficiation techniques: electrostatic separation; flotation; gravity concentration. The aim of this research is to identify and quantify the environmental impacts of the silica sand production, to learn the range of the impacts for different processing methods, as well as to identify the major contributors and focus for further process design development.
topic silica
quartz
life cycle assessment
environmental impact
mining
mineral processing
url http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/1/11
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AT anamarijagrbes lifecycleassessmentofsilicasandcomparingthebeneficiationprocesses
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