Mine Waste
More recent estimated quantities of mine waste are as follows: • The world''s iron, copper, gold, lead, and bauxite (aluminum) mines together generated 35 × 10 9 t of waste in 1995 alone [3].. The South African gold mining industry produced × 10 5 t of gold tailings in the decade from 1997 to 2006, that is, ×10 4 t a −1 [4].. All gold mining waste produced in the past century ...