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Extractive Waste as a Resource: Quartz, Feldspars, and Rare Earth Elements from Gneiss Quarries of the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola Province (Piedmont, Northern Italy)

Author

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  • Alessandro Cavallo

    (Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza, 1–4, 20126 Milano, MI, Italy)

  • Giovanna Antonella Dino

    (Department of Earth Sciences, University of Torino, Via Valperga Caluso, 35, 10125 Torino, TO, Italy)

Abstract

The growing demand for raw materials requires the optimization of extractive processes and innovative approaches, such as the recovery of quarrying and processing waste. Waste materials from gneiss (ranging from blocks up to residual sludge) used as dimension stone ( Beola and Serizzo from Piedmont, northern Italy) were characterized for chemistry, mineralogy, and petrography: quartz and feldspars (plagioclase and K-feldspar) are the most abundant minerals, followed by micas (biotite and minor muscovite) and traces of chlorite and epidote (allanite). Quartz and feldspars could be reused in the industrial minerals sector, especially in the ceramics industry; depending on the purity requirements of the raw materials, some mica separation treatments may be required. The most critical issues relate to the small grain size and the relative abundance of mica in some commercial varieties. The presence of allanite opens new possibilities for the recovery of rare earth elements (REE, critical raw materials).

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandro Cavallo & Giovanna Antonella Dino, 2022. "Extractive Waste as a Resource: Quartz, Feldspars, and Rare Earth Elements from Gneiss Quarries of the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola Province (Piedmont, Northern Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:8:p:4536-:d:791205
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marras, Graziella & Careddu, Nicola, 2018. "Sustainable reuse of marble sludge in tyre mixtures," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 77-84.
    2. Saleem H. Ali & Damien Giurco & Nicholas Arndt & Edmund Nickless & Graham Brown & Alecos Demetriades & Ray Durrheim & Maria Amélia Enriquez & Judith Kinnaird & Anna Littleboy & Lawrence D. Meinert & R, 2017. "Correction: Corrigendum: Mineral supply for sustainable development requires resource governance," Nature, Nature, vol. 547(7662), pages 246-246, July.
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    4. Giovanna Antonella Dino & Alessandro Cavallo & Piergiorgio Rossetti & Ernő Garamvölgyi & Renáta Sándor & Frederic Coulon, 2020. "Towards Sustainable Mining: Exploiting Raw Materials from Extractive Waste Facilities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-24, March.
    5. Zichella, L. & Dino, G.A. & Bellopede, R. & Marini, P. & Padoan, E. & Passarella, I., 2020. "Environmental impacts, management and potential recovery of residual sludge from the stone industry: The piedmont case," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    6. Dino, Giovanna Antonella & Cavallo, Alessandro & Faraudello, Alessandra & Piercarlo, Rossi & Mancini, Susanna, 2021. "Raw materials supply: Kaolin and quartz from ore deposits and recycling activities. The example of the Monte Bracco area (Piedmont, Northern Italy)," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
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    Cited by:

    1. Antonio Tazzini & Francesca Gambino & Marco Casale & Giovanna Antonella Dino, 2024. "Managing Marble Quarry Waste: Opportunities and Challenges for Circular Economy Implementation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-31, April.
    2. Antonello Aquilano & Elena Marrocchino & Carmela Vaccaro, 2025. "Gravity and Magnetic Separation for Concentrating Critical Raw Materials from Granite Quarry Waste: A Case Study from Buddusò (Sardinia, Italy)," Resources, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-33, January.
    3. Xinyuan Zhao & Faten Khelifi & Marco Casale & Alessandro Cavallo & Elio Padoan & Ke Yang & Giovanna Antonella Dino, 2024. "Critical Raw Materials Supply: Challenges and Potentialities to Exploit Rare Earth Elements from Siliceous Stones and Extractive Waste," Resources, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-26, July.

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