What the review covers
Kinnunen and colleagues examine five approaches: reducing tailings generation, reprocessing, upcycling, downcycling and disposal that allows future use. Their evidence includes publications, project reports and a Finnish tailings inventory.
What the authors found
The review describes metal recovery and mineral reuse as complementary possibilities. Tailings composition, transport, processing costs and demand constrain the options. Several approaches may be needed to use different fractions of the same material.
Limits of the estimates
The inventory’s metal-value estimates use metal concentrations and tailings quantities. They do not establish project profitability; the authors say business potential requires case-by-case assessment.
Authors’ recommendations
The authors propose assessing the whole material, combining recovery routes and improving information about material quality, quantity and location.