Applying Life Cycle Assessment for Sustainable Copper Extraction: Insights from the Rosia Poieni Mine

This study presents an integrated methodological framework for environmental assessment in copper mining, combining Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a screening-level Planetary Boundaries (PB) assessment, and scenario-based optimization. A screening-level assessment is understood as a preliminary evaluation based on available operational and environmental data, designed to identify the main environmental hotspots and prioritize areas requiring further investigation, rather than provide a fully detailed assessment of all environmental impacts. The main objective is to describe how these complementary approaches can be integrated to identify environmental hotspots across mining technological processes and support the prioritization of potential improvement measures. The framework incorporates process-level environmental assessment based on life cycle inventory data, the evaluation of selected planetary boundary indicators, and the development of optimization scenarios using documented technological and operational improvements. Its practical applicability is demonstrated through a case study of the Rosia Poieni copper mine in Romania. The LCA uses operational data provided by the mining company, including diesel and electricity consumption, water consumption, and material inputs. These data were used to establish the life cycle inventory and calculate the corresponding environmental indicators, including process-specific greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Complementary information from company and environmental reports was used for the assessment of land-system change and biosphere integrity. The case study resulted in an estimated baseline GHG emission intensity of 1.916 kg CO2-eq/kg Cu. The main process-level contributors were loading (0.810 kg CO2-eq/kg Cu), drilling and blasting (0.550 kg CO2-eq/kg Cu), and transportation (0.470 kg CO2-eq/kg Cu). The PB assessment further identified environmental pressures associated with atmospheric aerosol loading, freshwater change, land-system change, and biosphere integrity. Additionally, the optimization scenarios indicated potential GHG emission reductions of 15–25% for drilling and blasting, 15–30% for loading, and 25–45% for transportation. These values represent indicative improvement scenarios rather than predictions of site-specific operational performance. Overall, the study demonstrates how the proposed integrated framework can structure environmental information, identify priority processes, and support preliminary environmental decision-making towards more sustainable copper mining.