Experimental mineral carbonation: approaches to accelerate CO2 sequestration in mine waste materials

The ability to sequester CO2 under elevated temperature and pressure has been shown to be successful using MgO-rich rocks. This is achieved by mineral carbonation. Two predominant sources of substrate material are considered, namely ultramafic mine waste rock and process tailings. Each material has specific sequestration potential benefits for select mining operations to source additional revenue from the offset of anthropogenic carbon and sales of carbonate industrial products. Laboratory scale tests can determine the CO2 fixation capacity of the proposed rocks; however, a more practical repeatable method of determining the carbonation potential is needed. Data generation from autoclave testing of applicable mining waste material facilitates the understanding of carbonation determining parameters. The development of a sequestration potential algorithm that can be applied to drill hole geochemical data is preferred. The generation of non-destructive sequestration potential values from geostatistical interpretation will facilitate their inclusion into applicable mining block models and the determination of bulk carbon sequestration capacity.