Mineral sustainability of the Portuguese sector of the Iberian Pyrite Belt

• Autor(a) principal: De Oliveira, Daniel Pipa Soares
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Batista, Maria Joao, Matos, João Xavier, Silva, Tiago
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.9/3813
• topic: Iberian Pyrite Belt; Mining; New discoveries; Critical raw materials; Strategic raw materials; Circular economy; Faixa Piritosa Ibérica; Mineração; Novas descobertas; Matérias-primas críticas; Matérias-primas estratégicas; Economia circular

ABSTRACT: The Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB) is one of the most important volcanogenic massive sulphide districts in the world and has been mined during more than 5 000 years. Its early and rich mining history is known to have been very important in Tartessian and Roman times when working the oxidation and cementation zones of the deposits for gold, silver and copper preferentially took place in the outcropping deposits. Even after continuous metal extraction for more than 5000 years, the IPB retains exceptionally large metal reserves. The IPB remains a hub of continued research and exploration and as a consequence, sulphide reserves in the IPB are being continuously increased with new discoveries: Aguas Teñidas, Lagoa Salgada, Las Cruces, Migollas, Masa Valverde, Vallejin, Las Cruces, Semblana and Monte Branco, La Magdalena and Sesmarias. While today's mining activities are focused in massive and stockwork ores and confined to 7 Portuguese and Spanish districts: Aljustrel, Neves-Corvo, Sotiel-Migollas, Rio Tinto, Aznalcollar Los Frailes, Tharsis and Las Cruces, the IPB retains a large potential for non-traditional (or accessory ores) products. In light of the critical raw materials and the concepts of the circular economy, the IPB has the potential to be an important source of accessory metals; sourced from both primary and secondary ores and mine waste, that fall both in the strategic and critical domains. Metals like indium, selenium, germanium, rhenium and the precious metals are targets to seek in future exploration scenarios within the IPB, particularly in the Portuguese sector and in key near mining areas.