The characterization and cultivation of tailing dams and waste dumps for the treatment and subsequent recovery of critical raw materials is an actual priority concerning Eu member States.

This activity is both linked to the purpose of the remediation of old mining sites for a new employment of the area and the soil reuse and to actually developing mining activities.

In this perspective the geophysical charaterization of tailing dams in order to organize the subsequent excavation and treatment activities is fundamental together with the social acceptance and the environmental impact evaluation of all the process.

According to the different kind of excavated materials and the related content of critical raw materials physical and chemical treatments may be proposed such as: sieving, magnetic and electric separation, fluid media separation, chemical and/or biological leaching, crystallization and precipitation, solvent extraction, membrane-based processes or the integration of those. All the performed operations must be evaluated according to environmental and economic aspects.

The main objectives of the CRITERIA project are:

1. to provide high level training to a talented cohort of 13 skilled Early Stage Researchers (ESRs), who will work in a multi-disciplinary and cross-sectorial environment. Their goal will be to develop solutions from a technical and environmental point of view for the characterization and cultivation of tailing dams and waste dumps enhancing the recovery of CRMs and REEs. State-of- the-art technologies will be employed concerning excavation, investigation and treatment, thus accelerating the green energy transition towards a Circular Economy decreasing the EU dependency on imports of value-added mineral products.
    
2. to establish multi-lateral knowledge exchanges between participants belonging to different sectors and with complementary expertise, to enable a synergic cross- fertilization of inter-sectoral competences.

The CRITERIA activity concerning the characterization and exploitation of tailing dams and waste dumps is both linked to the purpose of the remediation of old mining sites for a new employment of the area and the soil reuse and mining activities under development.