KUPFERSCHIEFER-TYPE DEPOSITS
The Mansfeld region in central Germany is one of the oldest mining regions in Europe and the world due to its copper deposits that are part of the Central European copper belt with sediment-hosted Kupferschiefer-type deposits. The region's technological development over the centuries, and possibly even millennia, was made possible by a multitude of innovations that enabled the discovery and mining of copper ores, as well as the metallurgical extraction of metallic copper and other associated by-metals such as Co, Ni, and Mo.
The Mansfeld-Südharz region in Saxony-Anhalt is home to extensive old dumps and heaps from historical mining and smelting. These include tailings from ore extraction, which have considerable raw material potential.
RBFK e.V. aims to highlight and promote the innovation potential of the Mansfeld-Südharz region. Its activities are aimed at the holistic and interdisciplinary reuse of valuable and residual materials from ore and tailings piles, as well as the dismantling and recycling of process residues from former pyrometallurgical and industrial metal extraction. Last but not least, driven by climate change, geostrategic changes in the availability of raw materials (geopolitical changes) and the energy transition with its far-reaching implications, the focus is also on the raw material potential of pre-explored polymetallic ore deposits in the Mansfeld-Südharz region and their reassessment with regard to improving the independent supply of raw materials as part of the EU Critical Raw Material Act (EU Commission 03/2023).
2013 Innovative extraction of valuable metals from copper slate dumps in the former Mansfeld mining district, Saxony-Anhalt
Innovative extraction of valuable metals from copper slate dumps in the former Mansfeld mining district, Saxony-Anhalt
Author: A. Kamradt et al.
In: Woidasky, J.; Ostertag, K.; Stier, Ch. (editors) (2013)
Innovative technologies for resource efficiency in resource-intensive production processes
Results of the funding measures r2of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Fraunhofer Verlag 2013, page 52 - 67
2012 An Intergrated Process for Innovative Extraction of Metals from Kupferschiefer Mine Dumps, Germany (English)
An Intergrated Process for Innovative Extraction of Metals from Kupferschiefer Mine Dumps, Germany
Author: A. Kamradt et al.
Dumps in the Central German Mansfeld mining district have been investigated by a multi-disciplinary research team to develop a holistic concept for the recovery of base and trace metals from low-grade Kupferschiefer ore. Geochemical and mineralogical data from representative sampling indicate that the low-grade Kupferschiefer dumps contain significant amounts of Cu (0.6 %) and Ag (up to 800 ppm), besides exploitable grades of Pb and Zn. In addition to flotation and hydrometallurgy, first shake flask bioleaching experiments on otherwise untreated Kupferschiefer ore yield Cu recovery rates of up to 95 %. A total of 900 t Cu and 5 t Ag contained in black copper can thus be produced from the pilot dump of 100 000 m3 low-grade Kupferschiefer ore. Additionally, large volumes of limestone waste, separated from the dumps by sensor-based sorting, can be utilized as aggregate in the construction industry.
2009 Reactivation of the Mansfeld copper mining industry and recovery of metals from mining dumps of the Mansfeld copper mining industry - feasibility study
Reactivation of the Mansfeld copper mining industry and recovery of metals from mining dumps of the Mansfeld copper mining industry - feasibility study
Author: L. Koch
