Potash mining is an important economic activity in the north-east of Spain. However, one of the main environmental issues produced for such type of mining is subsidence, which generates horizontal and vertical ground displacements. A Geographic Information System (GIS)-based model is proposed as a management system in a case study with two mines. This system is able to deal with subsidence data and its behavior over time. More than 1300 control points are included in the GIS, with data since 2007. These data processed by the GIS allowed determining the module, sense and direction of the displacements, the sinking velocity and the possible affectation of subsidence to infrastructures and buildings. Hence, the system created can be a useful tool to manage subsidence data, determine its evolution, predict future environmental and social impacts and control corrective measures.

Mineralogy and gold processing techniques from several mining areas of the Nazca-Ocoña gold belt, Mid-South Peru, were investigated to assess the efficiency of gold extraction methods in relation to their mineralogy. The deposits from this belt are intrusion gold related to mineralization in quartz veins. Native gold occurs as micrometric grains encapsulated in pyrite and in minor amounts in other sulfides and quartz. Electrum is found mainly in fractures of pyrite and attains up to 35 wt. % Ag. In addition to these occurrences, gold tellurides also occur and they are abundant in San Luis. Gold processing is carried out by amalgamation with mercury and/or cyanidation. The comparison of the gold grade in the mineralizations and in the residual tailings indicates that a significant amount of gold is not recovered using the mercury amalgamation process and also, in the case of the gold recovery by cyanidation, except when cement was added to the cyanide solution. This was due to an increase in the pH that favours the dissolution of the gold matrix. In the cyanidation process carried out in tailings previously treated with mercury, part of the mercury retained in them is released to the atmosphere or to the cyanidation fluids.

Freshwater scarcity has driven the integration of technological advancements and automation systems in agriculture in order to attempt to improve water-use efficiency. For irrigation canals, water-use efficiency is, in great measure, limited by the performance of management systems responsible for controlling the flow and delivering water to the farmers. Recent studies show a significant sensitivity of the results obtained from irrigation canal control algorithms with respect to the Manning’s roughness coefficient value, thus, highlighting the importance of its correct estimation to ensure an accurate and efficient water delivery service. This is the reason why the friction coefficient algorithm was developed, to monitor the real behaviour of any irrigation canal by calculating the Manning’s roughness coefficient constantly. The friction coefficient algorithm was conceived as a powerful offline tool that is integrated in a control diagram of any irrigation canal, concretely in an optimization control algorithm, which can reconfigure canal gates according to the current crop water demand and the real Manning’s roughness coefficient values. The friction coefficient algorithm has been applied in several irrigation canals and different scenarios, with accurate results obtaining an average Manning coefficient deviation among 2 × 10⁻⁴ and 4.5 × 10⁻⁴.

A mineralogical and mineral chemistry study was carried out in the San Luis Alta telluride-rich gold deposit, mid-south Peru, to contribute towards determining its formation and improving the ore processing. The San Luis mineralization is considered an intrusion-related gold deposit located in the Arequipa segment of the Coastal Batholith. The mineralization occurs in quartz veins hosted in diorites and granodiorites from the Tiabaya Super-Unit. These veins are sulfide-rich in the deep areas and contain abundant iron oxides. Sulfides are mainly pyrite with minor chalcopyrite and galena. Native gold and telluride minerals are abundant. Mineral chemistry was determined using an electron microprobe. The mineralogy of veins was classified into four stages. Gold occurs in the three last stages either in large grains, visible to the naked eye, or, more frequently, in grains of less than 10 µm. Gold appears as grains encapsulated in pyrite, Fe oxides, quartz and filling fractures. The first stage is characterized by the deposition of quartz and massive pyrite, which does not contain gold. During the second stage, hessite, calaverite, petzite and altaite are formed. Additionally, Bi-tellurides, mainly volynskite, rucklidgeite, kochkarite and tellurobusmuthine, are formed. Some of these minerals occur as blebs encapsulated in pyrite, suggesting that a Bi-Te-rich melt was formed from the ore-forming hydrothermal fluid and transported the Au and Ag elements. This stage was followed by a fracturing event and tellurobismuthite, tetradymite and montbrayite precipitated. In the last stage, a supergene replacement formed covellite, bornite and goethite. Te-Bi minerals do not appear in this stage, but selenium minerals occur in minor amounts. Chlorargyrite and iodargyrite occur and are associated with gold.

Subsidence is one of the main environmental impacts of underground mining worldwide. Besides, the increasing complexity of underground mining due to greater depths and interaction with inhabited and environmentally sensitive areas can lead to challenges that may threaten the viability of mining due to phenomena such as subsidence. This research aims to increase the knowledge about surface subsidence due to underground mining, characterising the main factors that rule mining subsidence utilising an actual mine that extracts potash. The calculation methodology was based on 74 sections of the subsidence basin, using GPS measurements and the InSAR technique, with data collected over twelve nonconsecutive years from 1995 to 2021. Thus, three different active areas and one residual area were determined. Average boundary angles and their average distances of influence for the active regions have also been determined. Furthermore, using the least squares method, the subsidence basin curve was defined using a Gaussian function. The algorithm that governs the subsidence process has been successfully calculated, allowing the approximation of the deformation of any point within an area of interest. The novelty of this paper is twofold: the results obtained provide a detailed subsidence behaviour and a prediction model of the case study. Furthermore, the methodology implemented can be applied to other subsidence basins with mines in their area of influence. Hence improving the surface mining area’s safety levels and managing the environmental impacts.

A simple approach is proposed to study the main factors related to the mining activity’s impact on society, through a corporate social responsibility (CSR) qualitative analysis based on the type of raw materials extracted, either by mine site or firm. A CSR index is defined by 30 environmental and socioeconomic elements and, subsequently, it is weighted by three primary factors; the recycling rate, the transition to green energy, and geographical conditions. The proposed method is adaptable to any change in raw material needs over time and, depending on the analyzed country or region, is applicable to any type of mineral resource. The system can be used to drive engagement with the different stakeholders, add value to a project, and establish a CSR continuous improvement system.