Mining & Mineral Exploration
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Mineral Resource Development
A programme in life cycle assessment of the production of mineral raw materials and metals: the issues in modelling primary and secondary production, ore processing and metal production, the available data, and methods for assessing impacts on mineral resources, with a focus on resource dissipation, accessibility and criticality.
Overview
About the programme
Duration
2 days
Training hours
14 hours
Delivery
Training venue · At the organisation's premises
Language
Arabic or English
Objectives
Training outcomes
- Apply the life cycle assessment framework of ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 to product systems that include primary or secondary mineral raw materials.
- Identify the issues in modelling mineral raw material production in LCA and how to address them.
- Understand the main ore processing routes in metal production and their effect on the inventory.
- Learn about methodological developments in assessing impacts on natural resources: depletion, dissipation and criticality.
- Model a product system of the participant’s choice and analyse the results.
Content
What the programme covers
Day 1: metals and life cycle assessment
- Metal consumption and its environmental impacts in the energy and digital transitions, and transparency requirements such as the EU digital battery passport.
- The phases of LCA: goal and scope, inventory, impact assessment and interpretation; the functional unit and system boundaries.
- Ore processing routes for metal production: crushing and grinding, flotation, hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy, and refining.
- Allocation between co-products, by-products and recycled materials.
Day 2: modelling and resource impact assessment
- Modelling metal production: life cycle inventory databases and their limits, data quality and geographical representativeness.
- Methods for assessing impacts on mineral resources: abiotic depletion, and methods based on resource dissipation and accessibility.
- Criticality-oriented methods and supply risk.
- Exercise: modelling a product system of the participant’s choice and interpreting the results, followed by the assessment.
Who it is for
Target audience
Professionals who practise life cycle assessment in consultancies, industry and research, and sustainability staff in mining and manufacturing companies who need more accurate modelling of raw materials and their impact on resources.
Method
Delivery method
Technical presentations and case studies; each participant re-models a product system of their choice to apply the methods presented. Delivered in Arabic or English.
Questions
FAQ
Does the programme need LCA software?
Participants preferably work with the LCA software and databases their organisation uses; the exercises can also be done with open-source software such as openLCA.
What level is expected?
The programme assumes a basic knowledge of the LCA phases and previous practice, as it goes into the modelling of mineral raw materials rather than starting from general principles.
A programme tailored to your organisation
The duration and topics of the programme are adjusted to the organisation's needs, and it is delivered at its site, in a training hall arranged by the Center, or virtually.