Humanity development is associated with higher spiritual and social behaviour and financial shape, which is an undeniable factor of urbanisation. Previously, in areas of georesource concentration, cities and settlements were formed with people exploiting these georesources. However, imperfect technologies lead to rapid depletion of reserves and industrial and environmental disasters, which affect the vulnerability of cities and the people living in them. The analysis of applied technologies has demonstrated that potash extraction is accompanied by a low recovery ratio, high mine accidents, and environmental problems. The principles of sustainable development of geo-resources for the creation of mining technologies that ensure industrial safety, environmental sustainability, and extending the life of the mining enterprise to save working places will reduce the vulnerability of cities. This article proposes the use of the room-and-pillar mining method with the replacement of natural supports with artificial ones. Three-stage stoping with backfill is considered. Numerical modelling has shown stabilisation of mining and geomechanical processes, which confirms the prospectivity of the method with backfill. For these purposes, this research presents a new backfill composition based on local industrial waste. Schemes of backfill preparation and feeding into the mined-out space are proposed. The proposed technology, based on the principles of sustainable development of georesources, is the foundation for an economically profitable, environmentally friendly, and socially responsible mining enterprise. The implementation of the principles of sustainable development of georesources will allow for the preservation of cities and reduce their vulnerability.

Resource-dependent countries and economies are found to be particularly sensitive to global shocks. A unifying parallel is drawn between resource-dependent countries and regions with depleted mineral resources. The objective factors of losses of accessed reserves are analyzed. A unifying parallel is drawn between sub-standard ores and industrial waste. The paper proposes shifting geotechnology development from simple mineral extraction towards technologies that provide a full cycle of geo-resources development. A radical way of ensuring a full cycle of geo-resources development is the involvement of sub-standard ores and industrial waste in a closed processing cycle. The utilization of industrial waste without a valuable component extracting or reducing a harmful component to a background value is palliative. A comparative description of various technologies that allow extracting valuable components from sub-standard ores and industrial waste is made. The paper proposes a variant of chemical–physical technology that makes it possible to extract a valuable component from industrial waste to a minimum value. The activation of industrial waste with a disintegrator before a chemical extraction significantly increases the yield of a valuable component from 2.6 to 218.5%. A differentiated approach is needed regarding the choice of leaching solution, its percentage, as well as the leaching method and the need for activation processing of valuable components and industrial ones. The combined highly efficient physical–chemical and physical–technical technologies will ensure the maximum extraction of the valuable component from 52.6 to 98.8% in the full cycle of natural and industrial geo-resources development.

The environmental impact and occurrence of frequent ecological disasters have prompted a reassessment of societal values in the modern era. There has been a shift in the economic model, moving away from the pursuit of extensive growth towards a sustainable development model that prioritizes the preservation of the natural balance. This issue is of particular relevance in regions where mining activities are prevalent. In such regions, mining enterprises exert a considerable burden on the ecosystem, acting as significant sources of industrial waste. In light of the aforementioned considerations, the objective of this study is to develop a model for assessing the efficiency of industrial geo-resource recycling, taking into account both environmental and economic factors. The methodology is founded upon the principles of the efficient and comprehensive exploitation of natural and industrial geo-resources, in alignment with the tenets of sustainable development and the theoretical tenets of a cyclic economy. The methodology for assessing the efficiency of geo-resource recycling is based on the following three principal analytical approaches: economic and statistical, structural and logical, and comparative. The article examines the genesis of industrial waste, delineates the divergent patterns of the accumulation and utilization of mining waste, and classifies categories of industrial waste. The principal stages of the feasibility study are delineated, an algorithm is devised, and a model for evaluating the efficacy of industrial raw material recycling is proposed. The enumerated factors facilitate the recommendation of the model in the selection of the most optimal investment project in industrial geo-resource recycling.