Comprehensive Use of Coal and Coal Waste: Theoretical Aspects

The comprehensive use of mineral resources is shown to be of great importance for Russia. Innovative technologies must be introduced in mineral processing so as to improve the sustainability of the Russian economy. Innovative processing of minerals and their wastes benefits industrial performance within the fifth and sixth technological orders (for example, green technology, biotechnology, and smart technology). A literature review illuminates theoretical aspects of the problem. The factors responsible for practical divergence from theoretical principles are analyzed. Minerals and their components currently used in Russia are classified. The comprehensive processing of coal and coal wastes in Russia is discussed. The extraction of valuable metals from coal is considered, as well as the extraction of rare and rare earth metals and other useful components from coal wastes (ash and slag and also enrichment waste). As an example, an innovative technology for the extraction of rare and rare earth metal concentrates is presented. A construction material, agloporite, may also be derived. The prospects for the creation of coal, technological, environmental, and other economic clusters in the Kuznetsk Basin, on the basis of the comprehensive processing of coal and its wastes, are assessed. The correlation between the comprehensive use of minerals and the principles of sustainable development is explored.