Institute of Geology, Karelian Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Petrozavodsk, Russia:

V. V. Shchiptsov, Head of Department, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, vv.shchiptsov@gmail.com

Institute of Economics, Karelian Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Petrozavodsk, Russia:

S. V. Tishkov, Academic Secretary, Candidate of Economic Sciences
A. D. Volkov, Researcher, Candidate of Economic Sciences

The mineral mining industry is a customary critical economic sector in the Arctic. The mining industry faces the problem of safety, especially in mineral processing, which is governed by the current situation at tailings storage facilities, as well as by the growing global concerns connected with the waste management and with the consequences of keeping huge volumes of waste in tailings ponds. Some regulation is provided by certain legislation, but the growing number of manmade accidents and the increased ecological damage in the Arctic zone of Russia force the government of the country to activate initiation of laws on the mineral mining and processing waste disposal. Although hazardous, tailings ponds have a certain economic value. The tailings storage facilities of the test crushing-and-concentration factory ensure storage of waste as per the mining and production schedule for 2018–2043 on the basis of average annual volumes of tailings placed in the tailings pond in amount of 14.2 mm³/year (20.590 Mt/year at the density of 1.45 t/m³). The waste of magnetite quartzite processing at the crushing-and-concentration factory should be investigated on the present-day technological level with a view to using the waste beneficially, at the reduced ecological damage and cut down expenses connected with operation of the tailings storages toward comprehensive utilization of minerals at minimized yield of waste in mining and processing.
The study was supported in the framework of R&D Topic No. 216, Institute of Geology, Karelian Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences.

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