Metal contamination from mining activities has been a pressing environmental issue worldwide. A clear example is the lasting metal pollution in Spain’s Mar Menor lagoon, caused by traditional mining methods over many decades. These methods have released heavy metals, including lead, zinc, copper, cadmium, and arsenic, into the soil and water, resulting in long-lasting environmental and health risks.
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Today, increased awareness and new environmental laws are driving the development of technologies designed to reduce this contamination. This article examines the scale of contamination caused by historic mining and discusses emerging mining technologies mitigating this issue.
Historic and Global State of Mining Metal Contamination
Historically, mining has been a vital activity for resource extraction, but it has also caused severe environmental contamination worldwide.
In the Mar Menor, for example, Spain’s largest saltwater lagoon, sediments reveal metal contamination from mining-related discharge has accumulated over a century, severely impacting the lagoon’s ecosystem and local communities.1
Studies report that modern industrialization and the increasing demand for metals have accelerated contamination. For instance, metals like manganese, chromium, nickel, zinc, and copper are increasing in soils near mining sites worldwide. Contaminants enter ecosystems through mine tailings and effluents, as well as indirectly via atmospheric deposition and runoff. This contamination poses risks to biotic systems by altering metabolic pathways. It also raises toxicological concerns for human health due to its involvement in the food chain and exposure to polluted water and soil.2,3
Traditional mining practices typically involve large-scale ore excavation, crushing, flotation, and smelting processes. This creates significant waste, including tailings that often contain harmful metals. These tailings are frequently dumped in environmental depressions or dams with minimal containment, resulting in long-term pollution even after the mines are closed.
Acid mine drainage, caused by the oxidation of sulfide minerals, complicates metal mobilization and exacerbates ecological damage. Traditional mining practices heavily depend on physical and chemical methods that disrupt landscapes and release metals into the environment.2,4
What Technologies are Reducing Metal Contamination in Mining?
Recent mining technologies focus on reducing environmental harm by addressing metal contamination sustainably. They help minimize waste, avoid harmful chemicals, improve metal recovery, enhance site remediation, and incorporate ecological monitoring and renewable energy for lower indirect impacts.
Bioleaching and bioremediation
Bioleaching is a cleaner alternative to chemical leaching methods. It utilizes specialized microorganisms to extract metals from ores and mine wastes, and, with the help of microbial metabolism, dissolves and recovers metals such as copper, gold, and uranium in situ, eliminating the need for destructive excavation or harsh chemicals. This technique reduces the generation of toxic effluents and minimizes landscape disturbance.5,6
Studies evaluating bioleaching report cost-effectiveness, lower energy consumption, and reduced chemical pollution than traditional flotation and smelting processes. Bioremediation techniques also utilize microbes or plants to stabilize or extract metals from contaminated soils, aiding in the ecological restoration of mining sites.6
In-situ leaching (ISL)
ISL dissolves metals directly in underground ore bodies by injecting chemical solutions, recovering metals without physically mining the rock. This method prevents extensive surface land disturbance and tailings generation. It also reduces the volume of waste materials requiring disposal and lowers metal contamination risks. ISL has been successfully applied to uranium and copper mining, resulting in a reduced environmental impact. When properly managed, ISL can significantly reduce metal mobilization into surface waters relative to traditional open-pit or underground mining.5,7
Advanced water treatment and recycling
Mining operations consume large volumes of water, often contaminated with dissolved metals.
New treatment technologies, such as electrocoagulation, ion exchange, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis, can effectively remove these metals from wastewater. Some systems can recycle over 95 % of the water, drastically reducing the need for freshwater and preventing the release of polluted water into the environment. These closed-loop management systems minimize environmental impact and improve sustainability for mining activities.8,9
Tailings management systems
Tailings storage is a significant source of environmental risk from mining. New tailings management approaches, including thickened or paste tailings, filtered tailings storage, and dry stacking, reduce tailings dam instability and limit seepage of metal-rich leachates. Paste backfill technology, which reuses tailings underground as mine backfill, reduces surface disposal and stabilizes underground voids, decreasing potential contamination pathways.
Integrating environmental monitoring into tailings facilities also allows for early detection and intervention in contamination events.8,10
Precision and automated mining
Digital and automation technologies are the backbone of precision mining, which accurately targets ore bodies and minimizes the volume of waste rock extracted. This improves resource recovery and decreases the disposal of contaminated materials.
Remote sensing and real-time environmental monitoring enable better operational control, preventing unintended releases and facilitating prompt response actions when necessary.8,11
Comparison to Traditional Techniques
Traditional mining techniques are characterized by large-scale, labor-intensive excavation, inefficient metal recovery, and poor waste management.
The excessive use of chemicals, along with the direct release of contaminated waste, causes significant environmental harm. These practices result in long-lasting heavy metal pollution in nearby soils and water bodies.1,2
Newer technologies prioritize environmental sustainability and efficiency. Techniques such as bioleaching and in-situ leaching reduce chemical toxicity and physical disturbance.
Advanced water treatment prevents metal discharge, while modern tailings solutions minimize the risk of dam failures.
Automation reduces errors and reduces the environmental impact of mining activities. Together, these approaches collectively decrease the metal contamination footprint of mining operations.5,8
Companies and Researchers Reducing Metal Contamination in Mining
Leading mining companies and research institutions are focusing on environmentally friendly technologies in mining.
Companies such as Newmont Corporation, Rio Tinto, and Uranium Energy Corp. are using bio-mining and in-situ leaching for copper, gold, and uranium to minimize waste and enhance metal recovery.
International collaborations and funding are promoting the adoption of green chemistry, renewable energy, and artificial intelligence (AI) in mining to facilitate the dynamic monitoring and management of pollution.12-14
What Does the Future Hold?
Mining is essential for meeting the metal needs of modern society, but it has historically led to serious environmental contamination issues. However, state-of-the-art mining technologies now offer effective ways to significantly reduce metal contamination.
Compared to traditional methods, these newer technologies minimize physical and chemical disturbances, reduce waste generation, and improve metal recovery.
Research and industry initiatives demonstrate the practical viability of these methods, paving the way for more sustainable mining practices that protect ecosystems and human health while fulfilling resource demands.
Continue Reading: How are Coal Mines Implementing Sustainable Development Goals?
References and Further Reading
- Alorda-Montiel, I. et al. (2025). A century of sediment metal contamination of Mar Menor, Europe's largest saltwater lagoon. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 220, 118347. DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.118347. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X25008227
- Ondrasek, G. et al. (2025). Metal contamination – a global environmental issue: sources, implications & advances in mitigation. RSC Advances, 15(5), 3904–3927. DOI:10.1039/d4ra04639k. https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2025/ra/d4ra04639k
- Haghighizadeh, A. et al. (2024). Comprehensive analysis of heavy metal soil contamination in mining Environments: Impacts, monitoring Techniques, and remediation strategies. Arabian Journal of Chemistry, 17(6), 105777. DOI:10.1016/j.arabjc.2024.105777. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878535224001795
- Macklin, M. G. et al. (2023). Impacts of metal mining on river systems: A global assessment. Science. DOI:10.1126/science.adg6704. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg6704
- Sawarkar, K. (2024). Sustainable Mining Practices: A Look at New Innovations. Renewable Matter. https://www.renewablematter.eu/en/sustainable-mining-practices-a-look-at-new-innovations
- Rendón-Castrillón, L. et al. (2023). Bioleaching Techniques for Sustainable Recovery of Metals from Solid Matrices. Sustainability, 15(13), 10222. DOI:10.3390/su151310222. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/13/10222
- Li, G., & Yao, J. (2024). A Review of In Situ Leaching (ISL) for Uranium Mining. Mining, 4(1), 120-148. DOI:10.3390/mining4010009. https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6489/4/1/9
- Hidayat, M. (2025). Transforming the Mining Industry with Mine of the Future Initiatives. Discovery Alert. https://discoveryalert.com.au/mine-future-initiatives-2025-mining-innovation/
- How to Tackle Heavy Metal Contamination in the Mining Industry. waste2water.com. https://www.waste2water.com/tackle-heavy-metal-contamination-mining/
- Chen, X. et al. (2023). Remediation of grassland subsidence and reduction of land occupation with tailings backfill technology: A case study of lead-zinc mine in Inner Mongolia, China. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 11, 1183945. DOI:10.3389/fenvs.2023.1183945. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-science/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1183945/full
- Case Studies of AI in Mining: 7 Top Innovations 2025. (2025). Farmonaut. https://farmonaut.com/mining/case-studies-of-ai-in-mining-7-top-innovations-2025
- Bioleaching Market Size, Share, and Industry Analysis. Fortune Business Insights. https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/bioleaching-market-110894
- In-Situ Recovery Mining Market (2025 - 2033). Grand View Research. https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/in-situ-recovery-mining-market-report
- Raman, R. et al. (2024). Navigating the Nexus of Artificial Intelligence and Renewable Energy for the Advancement of Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainability, 16(21), 9144. DOI:10.3390/su16219144. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/21/9144
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