With the growth of urbanization and the global population, demand for sand has tripled in the last 20 years. Sand extraction, which is currently the second-most exploited resource in the world, has become a major environmental and social problem. Quarries destroy large natural areas, and sand taken from the sea and rivers affects local ecosystems. Moreover, this activity also ends up harming local communities, due to floods or landslides, for example.
A study from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) in Switzerland, and the Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI) at the University of Queensland in Australia, decided to tackle two problems at once: reduce the world’s largest stream of waste – mining waste – and reduce the extraction of sand from the natural environment. The researchers thus arrived at a sustainable alternative to natural sand, the “mineral sand”.
Based on the circular economy concept, mineral sand is produced from the waste remaining from the mining process, and can be used to substitute conventional sand for construction and industrial purposes.
In addition to being a solution that reduces waste volume, it also reduces the carbon emissions resulting from production, and benefits the companies themselves. “Considering co-production of mineral sand is a significant advantage for mining companies: it reduces the large waste that hampers mining operations, while at the same time generating additional revenue”, says Pascal Peduzzi, associate professor at UNIGE.
By mapping mining sites around the world and mapping the global sand demand, we found that in almost one-third of locations, mines can find at least some demand for mineral sand within a 50 km range. This could contribute to a reduction of at least 10% in the waste volume at each site. At the same time, nearly half of the global sand market could find a local source of mineral sand., says Daniel Franks, from the SMI.
