Sustainable Materials from Mining-waste and Tailing Stabilisation (SUMMITS)

Mining activities are essential for the development and subsistence of human society and of paramount importance for Europe's and the world's economy. However, they produce vast amounts of waste of various forms, most of which hazardous, exposing

populations and ecosystems near mines to severe hazards. Extensive research efforts are therefore focusing on finding uses that

neutralize and consume large quantities of this waste and on ways of safely disposing of waste that cannot yet be valorised.

SUMMITS proposes circular processes in the mining sites to valorise large quantities of mine waste of different forms (including heavy

metal-rich mine tailing waste and highly acidic mine-tailing effluents) by producing novel low-carbon cements and cement-based

building and construction materials. These low-carbon cements are alkali-activated cements and biocements (biomimetic cements

produced using the action of microorganisms from the mines). After developing the mine waste-based cements in the laboratory, we

will apply them to (a) produce masonry materials (bricks/blocks); (b) encapsulate and/or stabilise unvalorised waste in the mines (to

suppress dust and prevent engineering failures), during a pioneering field trial at a mining site. The field application of the novel

cements supported by regulators/policy makers and an international mining company, will allow us to assess their performance at

industrial environment, which is a major step forward towards their industry uptake. Overall, SUMMITS research addresses

concurrently hazardous waste management, resilience, infrastructure decarbonisation by producing low-carbon alternatives to

Portland Cement (responsible for substantial CO2 emissions) and the production of cheap building materials by/for disadvantaged

communities next to the mines, turning this waste to opportunity for the local communities. It thus addresses simultaneously environmental, economic, and societal sustainability.