metals Review Submarine Tailings in Chile—A Review Freddy Rodríguez 1, Carlos Moraga 2,*, Jonathan Castillo 3 , Edelmira Gálvez 4, Pedro Robles 5 and Norman Toro 1,* 1 Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Universidad Arturo Prat, Almirante Juan José Latorre 2901, Antofagasta 1244260, Chile;
[email protected] 2 Escuela de Ingeniería Civil de Minas, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Talca, Curicó 3340000, Chile 3 Departamento de Ingeniería en Metalurgia, Universidad de Atacama, Av. Copayapu 485, Copiapó 1531772, Chile;
[email protected] 4 Departamento de Ingeniería Metalúrgica y Minas, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta 1270709, Chile;
[email protected] 5 Escuela De Ingeniería Química, Pontificia Universidad Católica De Valparaíso, Valparaíso 2340000, Chile;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] (C.M.);
[email protected] (N.T.); Tel.: +56-552651021 (N.T.) Abstract: This review aims to understand the environmental impact that tailings produce on the land and marine ecosystem. Issues related to flora, fauna, and the environment are revised. In the first instance, the origin of the treatment and disposal of marine mining waste in Chile and other countries is studied. The importance of tailings’ valuable elements is analyzed through mineralogy, chemical composition, and oceanographic interactions. Several tailings’ treatments seek to recover valuable minerals and mitigate environmental impacts through leaching, bioleaching, and flotation methods. The analysis was complemented with the particular legislative framework for every country, highlighting those with formal regulations for the disposal of tailings in a marine environment. The available registry on flora and fauna affected by the discharge of toxic metals is explored. As a study Citation: Rodríguez, F.; Moraga, C.; case, the “Playa Verde” project is detailed, which recovers copper from marine tailings, and uses Castillo, J.; Gálvez, E.; Robles, P.; Toro, phytoremediation to neutralize toxic metals.