Use of Mining Dust to Enhance Carbon Capture

About Rock Weathering

• Rock weathering is a geo-chemical process where rocks break down into minerals over thousands of years. During this process, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) reacts with minerals like calcium and magnesium, turning into bicarbonates.
• These bicarbonates eventually travel through aquifers and settle in the oceans, where the carbon is locked away for aeons.
• Natural rock weathering takes a long time—over thousands of years—to remove significant CO2 from the atmosphere.

Enhanced Rock Weathering

• It is a process that accelerates the natural weathering of rocks.
• Basaltic rock into fine powder increases the surface area of the rock dramatically, enhancing the reaction rate of carbon with minerals.
• This enhanced process can capture carbon 10 to 100 times faster than natural weathering, depending on environmental factors like soil, temperature, and proximity to rivers.
• The bicarbonates formed from the process can be flushed into oceans within a month.

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