Discussion of the environmental limits of primary raw material extraction and development of a method for assessing the environmental availability of raw materials to further develop the criticality concept (ÖkoRess I)

Abstract

The project "Environmental Raw Material Availability" (OekoRess I) developed methods for the assessment of environmental hazard potentials of mining. For this purpose, a mining site-related evaluation model was first developed and tested in an iterative process using 40 case studies. On this basis, a raw material-related evaluation model was derived and applied to five raw materials as examples. Both evaluation models are now available also in English language. In addition, an evaluation system for the environmental hazard potential of mining residues was developed in an accompanying process and conceptual questions of environmental raw material availability and criticality were discussed. Those reports are available only in German language.The raw-material-related evaluation model has been further developed and applied to more than 50 materials in the follow-up project OekoRess II. In another follow-up project, OekoRess III, the site-related evaluation model is further developed and applied to the world’s 100 largest mining sites for copper, iron and bauxite.