Life cycle assessment of copper concentrate production and improvement potentials for tailing management.

This article focuses on the life cycle assessment (LCA) of copper concentrate production at the Janja copper concentrate plant in Sistan and Baluchistan province, Iran, emphasizing environmental impacts and tailings management. The study identifies sodium hydroxide, copper concentrate, and carboxymethyl cellulose as major contributors to environmental burdens, with marine ecotoxicity, human toxicity, and freshwater ecotoxicity as the most significant impact categories. It highlights that tailings landfilling substantially increases environmental impacts compared to copper production, whereas reusing tailings in cement production and road construction reduces these impacts and conserves resources. The research underscores the benefits of using photovoltaic energy and treated wastewater in production and recommends improving copper recovery and tailings reuse to mitigate environmental burdens in the copper mining industry.