The Central Mining Institute – National Research Institute (GIG-PIB) is taking part in the European MIDSafe project, which uses fly ash and mining waste to develop new geomaterials designed to stabilize mine dumps, absorb heavy metals and reduce pollution.
According to institute spokesperson Sylwia Jarosławska-Sobór, in this project the Central Mining Institute is responsible, among other things, for selecting substances for the production of innovative materials and developing synthesis formulas for binders using fly ash.
IGeomaterials, a term covering both natural and man-made materials used in construction, geoengineering and environmental protection, include rocks, aggregates, geocomposites and geopolymers. Their applications range from road building and erosion protection to landfill security and land reclamation.
GIG-PIB has long experience in synthesizing geomaterials such as zeolites and geopolymers, which led the institute to join the MIDSafe consortium..
The project, formally titled “MIDSafe: Advancing Post-Mining Waste Dump Safety and Sustainability,” links geomaterials research with the challenge of managing hard coal and lignite mining dumps.
One of its aims is to lower geotechnical and environmental risks by developing innovative waste-based materials. This includes the synthesis of zeolites and geopolymers with stabilizing and sorption properties to strengthen waste heap slopes and limit pollutant migration. Fly ash and other combustion byproducts are the main raw materials, in line with circular economy principles.
The Central Mining Institute is tasked with selecting industrial and natural precursors for zeolite and geopolymer production and creating recipes for binders based on fly ash from Polish and Greek mines.
“The next step will be the development of zeolites targeting the absorption of heavy metals and pollutants from landfills. We will test their effectiveness in real-world conditions to assess their impact on soil and vegetation. The final step will be the creation of a sample bank and database of innovative materials, providing a compendium of knowledge about their properties and applications,” said Professor Barbara Białecka, project manager at GIG-PIB.
The project is being implemented from mid-2024 to mid-2027 by an international consortium of 10 partners under the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, managed by the European Research Executive Agency. Its value is about PLN 1.5 million, with more than PLN 0.5 million co-financed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
The coordinator is the KOMAG Institute of Mining Technology, while other Polish partners include the Institute of Fuel and Energy Technology, the Wrocław University of Science and Technology, and Haldex.
The scale of the challenge remains significant. In 2019, the Supreme Audit Office counted more than 150 spoil heaps and dumps across Poland, covering 11,300 hectares, nearly 140 of them in Silesia.
At that time, only 2.2 percent of mining waste was reused in construction and other industries, and just a slightly larger share went to land reclamation, with the majority still stored in dumps. (PAP)
mtb/ mick/
