Exploring Indium Mobility in Legacy Mine Systems: New Research Published

As the global transition to clean energy accelerates, demand for critical minerals like indium is rising. This has sparked renewed interest in secondary sources, including legacy mine sites. A new study, published in Science of the Total Environment DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.180268, investigates how indium behaves in mining-impacted environments, with a focus on its mobility, speciation, and potential environmental risks.

Led by a PhD student from the University of Queensland during a three-month DISIPA internship at CSIRO, and supported by the Discovery Program, the research combines advanced mineralogical and geochemical techniques to trace indium from waste rock to downstream waters at the abandoned Baal Gammon mine in Australia.

Using tools such as Maps Min automated mineralogy, synchrotron-based X-ray Fluorescence Microscopy, EPMA, and LA-ICP-MS, the team identified key mineral sources of indium and tracked its release under acidic conditions. The study reveals that indium concentrations peak in acid mine drainage (pH < 3), and its speciation shifts with pH, influencing its transport and potential bioavailability.

These findings contribute valuable field-based data to the understanding of indium’s environmental behaviour and highlight both the risks and opportunities associated with its presence in legacy mine systems.