B.C. to study critical minerals in tailings, waste rock

A new Geoscience BC collaborative program is taking a province-wide look at where critical minerals may be found in mine tailings and waste rock. The goal is to identify potentially economic sources of such minerals for recovery.

The study will begin with a desktop first phase. Existing information will be collected and analyzed to identify sites for future laboratory and fieldwork studies where the tails and waste rock contain critical minerals that were not considered recoverable or valuable at the time of extraction but that may now prove otherwise. Additional data, such as infrastructure, will also be collected.

The first phase research funders are Arca Climate, New Gold, and Geoscience BC, with program support from the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation’s Abandoned Mines Branch. The Association for Mineral Exploration and Mining Association of BC (MABC) support the program and Geoscience B.C. is working with industry, academic, Indigenous and other partners to secure further support.

Offer to support this initiative at www.GeoscienceBC.com.