Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Open Access Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Chemical Engineering (MS)

Administrative Home Department

Department of Chemical Engineering

Advisor 1

Robert M. Handler

Committee Member 1

David R. Shonnard

Committee Member 2

Timothy C. Eisele

Abstract

This study assesses the feasibility of using mine tailings for mineral carbonation and nickel recovery through a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA). The LCA quantifies greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and resource consumption, while the TEA evaluates capital investment, operational costs, and process efficiency. The conventional beneficiation process at Eagle Mine serves as a baseline, highlighting its environmental footprint and operational costs. Results indicate that tailings reprocessing incurs higher costs ($34.76 per tonne of tailings processed) compared to conventional ore processing ($25.90 per tonne) due to increased energy consumption and material handling requirements. Additionally, several mineral carbonation scenarios and an acid leaching experiment were explored to improve CO2 sequestration and nickel extraction. LCA and TEA modeling of these experiments under baseline scenarios showed significantly higher CO2 emissions and cost due to higher energy and reagent consumption. In particular, heating demand and reagent consumption were identified as the primary contributors to environmental impact. However, process modifications - such as increasing solids content, increasing water and reagents recycling, reducing agitation speed and modifying other reaction kinetics, resulted in a reduction in CO2 emissions and energy costs reinforcing its potential for climate change mitigation and critical mineral (Ni) recovery.

Additional Files
00 Publishing Agreement 9-2021.pdf (77 kB)
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