ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Trade-off studies for the evaluation of tailings management options, alternative designs, etc. are typically based on cost, environmental and site specific considerations. This short paper presents the concepts of using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as a basis for tradeoff studies to evaluate tailings management options, alternative designs, etc. LCA has been formalized by the International Organization for Standardization in a series of standards, ISO 14040. In an LCA materials flows, environmental impacts, and energy flows are typically used to evaluate a specific option as well as for trade-off studies. A short review of the LCA principles, framework and approach is followed by summaries of a few mining and project related studies using LCA’s at the country, mine site and project scale. By defining the “functional unit” clearly as tailings management all the LCA standards can be applied in the evaluation of trade-offs at this scale.
