By 2050 the demand for strategic raw materials in the European Union will double and that, for this reason, the diversification of their supply will be an essential objective to pursue. In the wake of this reflection, on 11 April 2024 the EU regulation 2024/1252 "Critical Raw Material Act" was issued, later implemented in Italy with Legislative Decree 84 of 25/6/2024. The knowledge and correct evaluation of the EU's mineral resources and the feasibility of their exploitation therefore becomes a key issue in the international debate currently underway, concerning the security and supply of strategic raw materials for the development of the European economy and the mitigation of the related potential risks. The Special Issue "Cultivation and Recovery of Critical Raw Materials from Quarries and Mining Sites: A Circular Economy Approach and Valorization of Mining Heritage" deals with the topics bond to the upcoming challenges, of a technical, technological, environmental and social nature, connected to the new impulses generated by the debate on mining activities - prospecting, extraction, transformation, recovery of mineral resources from extractive rock wastes.
In addition to the central themes on CRM and waste materials there are also the topics deals with the economic-tourist valorization of mining heritage now abandoned, dedicated to the study of the original processes of mining extraction and processing of geomaterials and the functioning of the ancient technological systems used in the historical period of mining activity.
Guest Editors:
Stefano Columbu
Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cittadella universitaria di Monserrato - Cagliari, Italy;
columbus@unica.it
Rosalda Punturo
Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, Corso Italia, 57 - Catania, Italy;
rosalda.punturo@unict.it
Pietro Marescotti
Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Genova, Corso Europa, 26, - Genova, Italy;
pietro.marescotti@unige.it)
Giovanna Rizzo
Department of Sciences, University of Basilicata,Campus di Macchia Romana, Via dell'Ateneo Lucano, 10 - Potenza, Italy;
giovanna.rizzo@unibas.it
Key words:
Critical Raw Materials, Waste mining and quarry materials, Recovery, Remediation, Sustainability, Circular economy.
Possible topics:
- CRM extraction, processing, recycling and substitution
- CRM applications and case studies
- Environmental impact of CRM production
- Waste mineral and rock characterization
- Waste reuse as innovative low environmental impact construction geomaterials
- Mining dump valorization
- Quarry stone waste recovery
- Recycling and resource efficiency
- Mitigating mineral supply risks
- Reducing reliance on primary extraction
- Actions to minimize waste and dependence on primary resources
- Valorization of mining Heritage
- Technologies and "Archaeological Industry"
Timeline
Call for titles and authors: 31/10/2025
Call for full papers: 31/03/2025
Manuscript submission and preparation of the text
Please refer to the
Instructions for Authors to prepare your manuscript.
For any inquiries about the appropriateness of contribution topics, please contact the main Guest Editor
Stefano Columbu (
columbus@unica.it).
To submit a manuscript for this special issue please use the journal's submission platform (
ScholarOne ManuscriptsTM). To submit your manuscript, please create you account and in the homepage click on the
Author Dashboard and start your submission.
In the cover letter please specify that the manuscript is submitted for the special issue
"Cultivation and recovery of critical raw materials from quarries and mining sites: a circular economy approach and valorization of mining heritage".