Editorial: Advances in sustainable mine tailings management

This Research Topic focuses on progress and achievements of research in sustainable mine tailings (MTs) management. MTs are byproducts generated from mechanical and chemical processes to extract valuable elements from ore deposits. Typically, MTs are stored within tailings storage facilities (TSFs) or in the form of dry stacks. This causes a series of social, environmental, and economic problems, such as acid mine drainage and failure of TSFs. Backfill technology has been a reliable solution for sustainable MTs management. However, only a partial amount of MTs has been returned to underground voids
(stopes), leaving still large amounts of MTs on the ground surface. A more worrying fact is that advanced technologies increase production from lower-grade ores in mines, yielding a higher tonnage of MTs. Sustainable recycle and reuse MTs has become one of the major challenges in mining engineering.