Tailings engineering inputs to the annual mine and tailings in Brazil

Abstract

Brazil is a country that is amongst the largest producers of iron ore, niobium, bauxite, and others. The mining in this country has been expanding its activities, with increasing exploitation of minerals in quantity and therefore, there is an increase in the amount of waste and reuse of the same for years to come and, in this context, calls for a correct management of the solid waste produced according to the National Solid Waste Policy in accordance with the Brazilian law 12.305/2010. The motivation for this study came from the fact that the authors reside in regions where there is mining and working with the reuse of the same. The objective of this article is to present some results of a study on work related to minerals, solid waste and its reuse in Brazil and its possible trends. It was carried out an exploratory literature search of qualitative type, in which it was, sought indirect sources of information in journals, survey bases such as SciELO, data from stricto sensu post-graduation courses and direct sources interviewing executives of this area. The literature research results found the main articles related to the theme, in the period between 1989 and 2026, which are indexed in the SciELO and available for reading via CAPES’s portal. At the end, it was verified that there are few publications on the treatment of the solid waste and its reuse in Brazil and its possible trends. Results and conclusions from direct sources interviewing executives indicate a consensus that there are conditions for growth in the reuse of ore tailings in Brazil due to technical factors (new processes and methods for reuse) and economic factors, such as the lack of high-grade ore and legal environmental issues.