Chilean Research advances
In Remind, we provided a comprehensive and critical survey on the opportunities offered by the integration of conventional and emerging membrane technologies for a sustainable development of copper mining industry, coherently with the Circular Economy paradigm. This work critically discusses the potential and challenges of conventional and innovative membrane processes for water management of the mining industry value chain, with specific focus on the remediation of waste aqueous streams and reuse of clean water.
Moreover, an integrated process based on membrane distillation, photocatalysis and polyelectrolyte‐enhanced ultrafiltration was developed and successful employed for a sustainable arsenic remediation of contaminated groundwater. Membrane distillation permitted to produce high quality of freshwater from As contaminated aqueous solution. Overall, the integrated process ensured: i) the remediation of As contaminated water bodies; ii) the post-treatment of the by-product according to the Zero Liquid Discharge approach; iii) the mitigation of the As mobility and reactivity as a consequence of the oxidation at As(V) and its complexation with the polymer electrolyte.
Ecuador Research Advances
Artisanal and small-scale gold mining and large-scale mining in the Andean, Amazon, and Litoral Ecuadorian regions is potentially harmful to nature, and its impacts are associated with environmental degradation and deterioration of people’s health. So far, limited efforts have been directed at exploring the current situation and challenges facing the implementation of environmental policies in the country. The objective of REMIND focused on analyzing the historical and current situation and challenges of Artisanal and small-scale gold mining and large-scale mining in the Andean, Amazon, and Litoral Ecuadorian regions in relation to a political perspective (laws), socioeconomic impacts (population displacement, loss of livelihoods, migration of people, cost of living, water scarcity, and health impacts), and environmental impacts (biotic and abiotic). The methodology used was based on a literature review and interviews, and information that was discussed through an expert judgment allowed for establishing challenges to improve ASGM management. The main results indicate that lack of community participation in decision-making, insufficient coordination between government institutions, communities, and miners, and lack of control of mining activities are factors that contribute to ineffective compliance with environmental policies in the gold mining sector in Ecuador. Finally, our study concludes by considering the socioeconomic and environmental scopes within its findings for implementing effective environmental and social policies in the Andean, Amazon, and Litoral Ecuadorian regions.
