ReviewAcid mine drainage: Prevention, treatment options, and resource recovery: A review

- The available prevention options of AMD generation are briefly reviewed.
- Industrial application of tailings are well discussed.
- The treatment options for AMD remediation are addressed.
- Available innovative technologies for resource recovery from AMD are reviewed.

Acid mine drainage poses severe environmental pollution problems due to its high acidity, toxic metals and sulphate contents. In this review, the available prevention of acid mine drainage generation, treatment options and their importance in light of the future perspectives are briefly discussed. The possible resources to be recovered such as ferric hydroxide, ferrite, rare earth metals, sulphur and sulphuric acid and their economic benefit are discussed. Furthermore, the importance of mine tailing for stabilisation of contaminated soil and production of building materials are highlighted. Overall, this review has shown that the resource recovery and reuse is a non-debatable holistic approach to environmental sustainability and acid mine drainage pollution reduction. Finally, the future perspective and areas that deserve in-depth exploration are underscored.