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    Integrating Phytomining With Bioenergy - Sinkala

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    Thomson Sinkala
    This document proposes integrating phytomining and bioenergy production in the Zambian Copperbelt as a more cost effective approach to remediating contaminated mine lands. Current remediation methods are very expensive. Hyperaccumulator plants naturally absorb high concentrations of metals like copper, cobalt, and nickel from soils. These plants could be harvested for bioenergy production, extracting the valuable metals. The biomass could generate biofuels or electricity before metal extraction. This integrated approach would provide environmental, economic, and social benefits to the government, mining communities, mining industry, and other sectors in Zambia.

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    Integrating Phytomining With Bioenergy - Sinkala

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    Thomson Sinkala
    29 views27 pages
    This document proposes integrating phytomining and bioenergy production in the Zambian Copperbelt as a more cost effective approach to remediating contaminated mine lands. Current remediation methods are very expensive. Hyperaccumulator plants naturally absorb high concentrations of metals like copper, cobalt, and nickel from soils. These plants could be harvested for bioenergy production, extracting the valuable metals. The biomass could generate biofuels or electricity before metal extraction. This integrated approach would provide environmental, economic, and social benefits to the government, mining communities, mining industry, and other sectors in Zambia.

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    Making phytomining commercially feasible by integrating it with bioenergy production

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    This document proposes integrating phytomining and bioenergy production in the Zambian Copperbelt as a more cost effective approach to remediating contaminated mine lands. Current remediation methods are very expensive. Hyperaccumulator plants naturally absorb high concentrations of metals like copper, cobalt, and nickel from soils. These plants could be harvested for bioenergy production, extracting the valuable metals. The biomass could generate biofuels or electricity before metal extraction. This integrated approach would provide environmental, economic, and social benefits to the government, mining communities, mining industry, and other sectors in Zambia.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    29 views27 pages

    Integrating Phytomining With Bioenergy - Sinkala

    Uploaded by

    Thomson Sinkala
    This document proposes integrating phytomining and bioenergy production in the Zambian Copperbelt as a more cost effective approach to remediating contaminated mine lands. Current remediation methods are very expensive. Hyperaccumulator plants naturally absorb high concentrations of metals like copper, cobalt, and nickel from soils. These plants could be harvested for bioenergy production, extracting the valuable metals. The biomass could generate biofuels or electricity before metal extraction. This integrated approach would provide environmental, economic, and social benefits to the government, mining communities, mining industry, and other sectors in Zambia.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 27

    Potential Integrated Phytomining and Bioenergy

    Production in the Zambian Copperbelt.


    By
    Prof. Thomson Sinkala
    CEO – Thomro Biofuels
    Email: [email protected]

    Presented at the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) Week

    Online Conference, 16-18 March 2021


    CONTENT
    • Introduction
    • Challenges of the Current Remediation Approaches
    • Hyperaccumulator Plants in the Zambian Copperbelt
    • Applying Integrated Phytoremediation with Bioenergy Production
    • Conclusion
    Introduction
    Location of the Copperbelt of Zambia
    To produce 1 MT of copper, 350 MT of waste
    are generated, of which 147 MT are tailings
    Land Used In the Zambian Copperbelt alone

    9,125 ha - 791 mln MT of tailings 20,646 ha - 1.9 bln MT of o/burden


    388 ha - 77 mln MT of waste rock 279 ha - 40 mln MT of slag

    At global scale, 5 and 7 billion tons of tailings


    dumps are created annually (Festin et al, 2017)
    Pollution in the Zambian Copperbelt

    Soil cover and stream Effluent discharge from mine plant Acid rock drainage
    sedimentation by mine tailings
    Air pollution CO2, particulates, Black mountain, Kitwe
    Etc at Cu-Co plant in Kitwe
    Tailings
    Dam

    No vegetation in
    Drinking water wind direction
    Concentrations of arsenic, copper, cobalt, lead, zinc etc in crops/foods

    Eg. Nyambe et al, 2014


    Challenges of the Current Remediation Approaches
    The physical, chemical and biological remediation techniques
    presently used to rehabilitate polluted mine environments are
    globally known to be expensive.

    Mining companies are facing the choice of either


    • paying for a statutory environmental assurance fund, or
    • nefariously avoiding to pay for the funds.

    Heavy metals in food crops growing on contaminated soils, such


    as cassava and sweet potatoes, have exhibited much higher levels
    of lead, zinc, nickel, and copper — with lead being a particularly
    prominent health risk
    Concerns on the Costs of Rehabilitation
    ZAMBIA: Auditor General’s Report 2014

    KEY MESSAGE
    AUSTRALIA: New South Wales Audit Office 2017
    http://www.theherald.com.au/story/4656201/mine-rehabilitation-bonds-may-not-be-adequate-audit/#slide=1

    KEY MESSAGE
    A study by the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa
    (Weiersbye 2007) has determined the cost of:
    • non-biological remediation up to US$4,000/cubic metre
    of soil or US$100,000 to US$3 million/hectare, and
    ➢ non-biological treatment of groundwater varies from less
    than US$1 to US$300

    • phytotechnology costs range from US$0.02 to


    US$10/cubic metre of soil, or US$200 to US$100,000/hectare,
    and
    ➢ US$0.2 to US$40 per kilolitre of water.
    Hyperaccumulator Plants in the Zambian Copperbelt
    Examples of Terrestrial Hyperaccumulator Plants

    cf. Diplolophium sp. Celosia trigyna L. Persicaria capitata


    (http://copperflora.org) (http://tropical.theferns.info) (https://keyserver.lucidcentral.org)

    Zn, 206 mg/Kg Zn, 148 mg/Kg Zn, 254 mg/Kg


    Cu, 3038 mg/Kg Cu, 723 mg/Kg Cu, 1306 mg/Kg
    Vad Der Ent et al., 2015 Vad Der Ent et al., 2015
    Co, 1060 mg/Kg
    Vad Der Ent et al., 2015
    Aeolanthus biformifolius Haumaniastrum robertii
    1 wt.% Copper (Cu) 1 wt.% Cobalt (Co)
    This is e.g. 100 kg of copper for, say, 10 MT This is e.g. 100 kg of cobalt for, say, 10 MT
    of dry biomass per hectare/year. of dry biomass per hectare/year.
    LME PRICE OF LME PRICE OF
    US$6,500 Cu/MT gives US$650/ha/yr US$28,500 Co/MT gives US$2,850/ha/yr
    Examples of Aquatic Hyperaccumulator Plants

    Cattail (Typha latifolia L.) Eichhornia Crassipes


    (www.publicdomainpictures.net) (Water hyacinth)
    Cu, 93 mg/Kg, root, Ni, 524 mg/Kg, tissue Cu, 6000–7000 mg/Kg, root
    Beisner et al, Manios, et al & Hussain et al. Yang and Ye, 2009
    Applying Phytoremediation Integrated
    with Bioenergy Production
    Phytomining + Bioenergy Production
    Either harvest SHOOT or
    WHOLE PLANT depending on
    location of valuable products
    and plant handling process

    BIOMASS CAN BE USED FOR PRODUCTION OF


    ➢ Bioenergy (BioCNG, Bioethanol, Biodiesel, Bioelectricity, Etc)
    ➢ CO2,
    ➢ Plastics,
    ➢ Etc

    AFTER WHICH
    ➢ Valuable metals can be extracted
    ➢ Organic fertiliser can be produced.

    ADAPTED FROM: https://www.intechopen.com 19


    Ni hyperaccumulator species
    Estimates by Van der Ent et al. (2015):
    ➢ A harvest of 5−10 t of dry matter per ha
    containing 2% Ni
    ➢ Yielding 100-200 kg Ni / Ha
    ➢ Nickel price of US$11.31/Kg
    ➢ Potential yield of ≥100 kg Ni /Ha
    Prior to metal extraction, biomass can be
    used for production of either
    ✓ electricity, or
    ✓ advanced biofuels, or
    ✓ other products.
    Eg. Extract bioethanol from Cattail before extracting metals

    Cattail (Typha latifolia L.) Cattail Roots Cattail Flour and Fibre
    (www.publicdomainpictures.net) (www.publicdomainpictures.net) (www.publicdomainpictures.net)

    METAL CONTENT YIELDS


    Zn, 1412 mg/Kg, tissue Sewage cattail: 70,155 lit/ha, ethanol
    Wild cattail: 10,051 lit/ha, ethanol
    Cu, 93 mg/Kg, root
    Cattail starch only: 23,375 lit/ha, ethanol
    Ni, 524 mg/Kg, tissue
    Sewage cattail with cellulose: 93,500 lit/ha, ethanol
    Pb, 1108 mg/Kg, root Constructed wetlands yield: 16.1 to 42.7 t/ha, cattail
    Beisner et al, Manios, et al & Hussain et al.
    Cattail core flour: 7.257.5 t/ha
    Conclusion

    Everyone Benefits
    GOVERNMENT
    • Rehabilitated land beyond mine licence areas
    • Reduced poverty and criminology
    • Improved water and soil quality
    • Additional tax revenue
    • Competitive investment destination
    • Political stability
    • Reduced fuel import bills
    • Industrialization of polluted areas
    • Improved infrastructure
    • Increased localization of key economic pillars
    • Stable economy due to increased energy, food, local products and jobs
    • Increased prospects for public-private partnerships
    MINING HOST COMMUNITIES
    • Increased land availability for socio-economic uses
    • Sustainable livelihoods for the present and future generation
    • Numerous jobs
    • Improved health and quality of life
    • Improved education and other socio-economic amenities
    • Reduced indulgence in criminal activities
    • Improved commerce infrastructure.
    • Increased Zambia’s direct role and ownership of local economy
    MINING INDUSTRY
    • Reduced environmental remediation bills
    • Additional revenue streams through recovered metals and bioenergy industry
    • Competitive mining production costs
    • Job creation for mining host communities
    • Improved image to mining host communities and nationally

    LEARNING INSTITUTIONS
    • Availability of research funds
    • Sustainable revenue
    • Increased research papers / articles
    • Modernized teaching and R&D facilities
    • Individual and institutional patents
    • Increased jobs for student graduates
    • Enhanced relevance to Zambian society
    • Entry into the global club of top of the range institutions.
    NON-MINING PRIVATE SECTOR
    • Improved competitiveness of Zambia’s tradeable products
    • Increased incentives for contributing to local and national economies
    • Improved environment for innovations
    • Improved environment for participation in public-private partnerships
    • Improved incentive for job creation and infrastructure development
    • Improved incentives for industrializing Zambia
    • Improved contribution to RDD&D (Research, Development,
    Demonstration and Deployment).
    Thank you very much for your attention

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