This article elucidates the emerging principles required for the design of task-oriented mesocosms. Twelve key factors are discussed including mineral diversity, nutrient reservoirs, steep gradients, high exchange rates, periodic and random pulses, cellular design and mesocosm structure, subecosystems, microbial communities, photosynthetic bases, animal diversity, biological exchanges beyond th...

Fluorapatite, fluorinated calcium phosphate, has been identified as a potential matrix for the entombment of the zirconium fluoride fission product waste stream from the proposed FLEX process. If the efficacy of fluorapatitebased waste-storage can be demonstrated, then new and potentially more-efficient options for handling and separating high-level wastes, based on fluoride-salt extraction, wi...

Evaluation of metal leaching using a single leach test such as the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) is often questionable. The pH, redox potential (E(h)), particle size and contact time are critical variables in controlling metal stability, not accounted for in the TCLP. This paper compares the leaching behavior of metals in mineral processing waste via short-term extraction te...

13 Abstract Reactive waste dumps with sulfide minerals pro14 mote acid mine drainage (AMD), which results in water and 15 soil contamination by metals and metalloids. In these systems, 16 contamination is regulated by many factors, such as mineral17 ogical composition of soil and the presence of sorption sites 18 on specific mineral phases. So, the present study dedicates 19 itself to understan...

The REFERTIL project (FP7 contract no.: 289785) is developing safe and economical biochar quality criteria for EU policy support and proposal for possible inclusion of the biochar case into the EU FERTILIZER REGULATION revision (EC 2003/2003). The objective driven goal of this SME farmer targeted applied science and technology project is to reduce mineral fertilisers and chemicals use in agricu...

Phosphorus has been called the "master mineral" because it is involved in most metabolic pathways, is a key component of Adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) which transports chemical energy within cells for energy metabolism, and it is a component of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). “Next to calcium, phosphorus is the most abundant mineral in the body. Approximately 85% of phosphorus in the body can be...

Chemical retention, i.e., partition of the element between aqueous solution and mineral surface, is a key phenomenon for assessing the safety of possible nuclear waste disposal. For this purpose, the sorption of Eu(III) onto a model mineral-alpha-alumina-is studied here, including the effects of groundwater chemistry: pH and concentrations of small organic and inorganic ligands (acetate, oxalat...

Thermoelectric materials can convert waste heat into electricity, potentially improving the effi ciency of energy usage in both industry and everyday life. Unfortunately, known good thermoelectric materials often are comprised of elements that are in low abundance and require careful doping and complex synthesis procedures. Here, we report dimensionless thermoelectric fi gure of merit near unit...

The removal of arsenic from process solutions and effluents has been practiced by the mineral process industries for many years. More recently, because of the recognition that arsenic at low concentrations in drinking water causes severe health effects, the technologies that have been used in the mineral industry are being applied to that situation. Removal of arsenic in process solutions can b...

Clay minerals are layer type aluminosilicates that figure in terrestrial biogeochemical cycles, in the buffering capacity of the oceans, and in the containment of toxic waste materials. They are also used as lubricants in petroleum extraction and as industrial catalysts for the synthesis of many organic compounds. These applications derive fundamentally from the colloidal size and permanent str...