Published on: 2026-06-03
Source: Novosibirsk State University –
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Researchers of Novosibirsk State University presented a work dedicated to the technology of enhanced mineral weathering as one of the approaches to long-term removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (Carbon Dioxide Removal, CDR). The article “Enhanced mineral weathering as a carbon sequestration tool in the mining sector: Current and future field trials and experiments” was published in the journalSeparation and Purification Technology.Â
—Mining enterprises produce enormous volumes of finely ground ores that contain magnesium- and calcium-containing silicate minerals (serpentines, olivines, pyroxenes, and others). When interacting with CO2 and with water, as a result of successive reactions of dissolution and precipitation, these minerals turn into stable carbonate phases, fixing carbon dioxide in solid form. This allows considering mine workings and dumps as potential sites for natural or accelerated carbon sequestration., — said the director of the Climate Center of the NSU, candidate of physical and mathematical sciencesGeorgiy Lazorenko.
The work provides examples of enterprises where active binding of atmospheric CO2 has already been recorded through the natural weathering of mining wastes. These include nickel mines in Australia, asbestos mining wastes in Canada and Australia, as well as kimberlite diamond mine wastes in Canada and South Africa.
Based on the analysis of field data, researchers have identified several categories of approaches to accelerating the carbonization of mining waste under surface conditions: physical (increasing reaction surface area and improving gas permeability of dumps), hydrological (regulating the water regime to balance mineral dissolution and CO2 diffusion), and biological (using biotic agents and metabolic products to accelerate weathering and carbonate formation).The effectiveness of each of these strategies depends on the specific conditions at the site, and their limitations (energy costs, climatic dependence, control complexity) determine the directions for further research and technological optimization.
According to the global assessments cited in the article, Russia is among the countries with the greatest potential for applying deep weathering technology to mountain wastes. This is due to the presence of large deposits of nickel-containing serpentinites, chrysotile asbestos, platinum ores, dunites, as well as kimberlitic diamond mining wastes. Such a combination of various types of reactive rocks and technological wastes creates unique prerequisites in Russia for the development of this direction of CDR.
Further development of the method in Russia requires conducting its own field tests at operating and preserved mining enterprises, adapting acceleration strategies to climatic conditions (including low temperatures and seasonal freezing of rocks), as well as assessing economic efficiency compared to other CDR approaches. Work in this area is being carried out, in particular, at the NGU Carbon Polygon, where processes of mineral carbonation of asbestiform and other industrial wastes are already being studied under laboratory and field conditions.
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