Protection and Sustainable Development of Mineral Resources

Dear Colleagues,

Mineral resources are a crucial source of raw materials that enable the development of civilization. Over time, the importance of some of them may increase or decrease. This is also happening now in the era of energy transformation, digitization, robotization and dynamic urbanization. These changes are further intensified by deep geopolitical changes and the related disruption in traditional raw material supply chains, as well as deepening conflicts of interest related to the use of the surface of the earth.

All this makes the need for the protection of mineral resources and the search for new ones indispensable. The problem concerns not only the safeguarding of already-known mineral deposits, which has been the subject of many international research projects in recent years. There is also the need for a broader discussion about the possibilities of sustainable development of exploration, and then the development of mineral resources in hitherto inaccessible areas (e.g., the Arctic, Antarctica, jungle areas, the ocean floor, deep located bodies).

Another important topic is related to the optimization of raw material production, mainly in terms of reducing the energy consumption of the technological processes.

The problem of sustainability in the development of, for example, photovoltaics or electromobility, generating demand for specific minerals, in terms of their low efficiency, short service life and generation of huge amounts of waste, also requires critical analysis and reliable assessment.

In this Special Issue, we will focus mainly on the primary mineral resources, although similar problems are related to the utilization of raw materials from secondary sources. So, we invite you to present the results of your research and review papers and to discuss these often-controversial topics.

Dr. Barbara Radwanek-Bąk
Dr. Ewa Lewicka
Guest Editors

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