Geoenvironmental Study of Gold Mining Tailings in a Circular Economy Context: Santa Barbara, Minas Gerais, Brazil

We characterized the tailings from Santa Barbara dam, which is located in Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, to: (i) identify its chemical, mineralogical, and metallurgical properties, (ii) perform an environmental evaluation of water at surface facility. The potential recovery elements such as Sb, As, Au was also considered for reuse. alkaline, with maximum pH values ≈ 10, contained potentially toxic elements, Sb (up to 0.500 mg/L), As 0.080 Cu 20 mg/L). Gold enrichment areas were found concentrations up 0.5 g/t. Alignment exists among management, demand critical raw materials, increased interest processing low-grade ores mining waste, important context circular economy. They suggest that valorisation tailings, although challenging, can be achieved by economic more valuable metals.