The aim of the course is to provide the main knowledges concerning the possible interactions about pollutants, water and soil that determine the pollution of soil, water and groundwater during mining and excavation and processing activities. A particular attention will be devoted to cases concerning excavations and mining contaminations description and analysis. The environmental sustainability of mining and mineral processing operations will be examined in detail in order to face the challenge of anthropic activities fully compatible with the environment. The main remediation technologies for soil and groundwater will be presented concerning the engineering, the potential applicability conditions (kind of pollutants, different geological conditions, kind of pollution source, and so on), the hypothesized efficiency according to the established remediation target. A focus on the treatment optimization of excavation waters and on the analysis of solid contaminants for different kind of mining waste will be performed too. The subject is inherently linked to resources and environmental sustainability, planning of sustainable mining , raw material processing and recycling.

On the basis of the learning of the proposed solutions and technologies the student will be able to describe the guidelines for excavation and mining operations fully compatible with the environment, to evaluate the impact load on soil, water and groundwater that is originated from a specific human activity and to fix the instruments that must be adopted for the remediation of soil, water and groundwater, by considering performances, applicability, project criteria, costs, results. The knowledges that must be acquired are directed to the definition of a multi-disciplinary approach to the establishment of the best solutions for environmental impact limitation.

The required knowledge concerns aspects of chemistry (stoichiometry, equilibria, chemical kinetics) and basic elements of physics, geology, hydrogeology and soil properties.

Environmental sustainability of oil mining activities: examples. Characteristics and properties of the different environmental sectors: air, water, soil. Particular emphasis will be given to soil characterization: components, chemical absorption constants (CEC, Kow ...), characteristics of vadose zone and saturated area. Chemistry of aqueous solutions, chemical equilibria, material exchanges: redox potential, solubility product, volatility of compounds in solutions (Henry's law and Rault's law) (1 CFU). The application of the sampling strategy to the polluted sites. The calculation of pollution index. Comparison of concentration with the contaminants TLVs (From Europe, America and other international Countries). (0,5 CFU) Case study of mining processes and contamination assessment. Soil contamination near a former Zn–Pb ore-treatment plant: a case study. Chromite mining pollution: a case study. The environmental impact of gold mines: pollution by heavy metals. (0,5 CFU) Methods to detect preliminarily contaminants on site (0,5 CFU). Laws procedures concerning the excavation of soil, polluted soils, characterization plan and risk analysis procedure. Basic principles of remediation techniques: removal of contaminants by physical, chemical, biological methods. Classification of treatments: in situ, ex situ (on site, off site). Gas-liquid exchange techniques: air sparging, soil venting, soil vapor extraction, dual phase extraction, bioslurping, pump and treat. Biological techniques: bioventing and biosparging, lagooning, biopile, composting, land farming. Chemical techniques: permeable reactive barriers (PRB), oxidation-chemical reduction, washing with solvents Chemical-physical-thermal treatments: desorption, incineration, vitrification, solidification-stabilization, soil washing. Fundamentals of water treatment (3 CFU) Learning by doing: evaluation of pollution index of project made in Raw Material Processing and Recycle on chromite , mixed sulphides, phosphates processing plant (0,5 CFU).

During the presentation of the arguments that constitute the object of the course numerical exemplifications are introduced, in order to explain the principles and the applications of the described systems.

During the presentation of the arguments that constitute the object of the course numerical exemplifications are introduced, in order to explain the principles and the applications of the described systems.

Teaching material: the slides will be made available to students enrolled on the teaching portal. Furthermore, technical reports and open access publications relating to the topics of the program will be made available to students. The bibliography will be suggested to the students for a higher comprehension or a more extended analysis of the arguments that are introduced during the lessons or the exercises.

Dispense; Esercizi;

Modalità di esame: Prova scritta (in aula); Prova scritta in aula tramite PC con l'utilizzo della piattaforma di ateneo;

Exam: Written test; Computer-based written test in class using POLITO platform;

... In order to verify the apprehension of the presented arguments and the capacity to arrive to practical applications, a traditional exam in written form is used. In general the text will foresee some closed questions with multiple choice (generally 4), two exercises and two open questions concerning theoretical basis for the technologies or pollutant, water, soil interactions and some possibilities of technology application, in order to verify the maturity level gathered from the student. The mark of the written exam may vary from 0 to 30 and in order to access to the facultative oral. It’s compulsory to gather at least 18. The oral is facultative and foresees one question concerning the arguments of the course and the mark may be increased of three points maximum. The final evaluation is based on the apprehension capacity that has been demonstrated, on the quality of presentation, on the acquired capacity to apply to specific practical cases the general indications that are introduced.

Gli studenti e le studentesse con disabilità o con Disturbi Specifici di Apprendimento (DSA), oltre alla segnalazione tramite procedura informatizzata, sono invitati a comunicare anche direttamente al/la docente titolare dell'insegnamento, con un preavviso non inferiore ad una settimana dall'avvio della sessione d'esame, gli strumenti compensativi concordati con l'Unità Special Needs, al fine di permettere al/la docente la declinazione più idonea in riferimento alla specifica tipologia di esame.