During the geological prospecting works conducted in 2013 on Bangka Island (Indonesia), high monazite content was identified in the wastes produced during processing of cassiterite deposits. Monazite, among 250 known minerals containing REE , is one of the most important minerals as primary source of REE .The monazite content in this waste is up to 90.60%. The phase composition of the investigated tailing proves that the sources of minerals accompanying the placer sediments tin mineralization are granitoids. The tailing is composed of numerous ore minerals, including monazite, xenotime, zircon, cassiterite, malayaite, struverite, aeschynite-(Y), ilmenite, rutile, pseudorutile and anatase. Monazite grains belong to the group of cerium monazite. Its grains are characterized by high content of Ce2O3 27.12–33.50 w t.%, La2O3 up to 15.46 w t.%, Nd2O3 up to 12.87%. The total REE 2O3 + Y content ranges from 58.18 to 65.90 wt.%. Monazite grains observations (SEM -BSE) revealed the presence of porous zones filled with fine phases of minerals with U and Th content. The radiation intensity of 232Th is ATh = 340 ± 10 Bq and 238AU = 114 ± 2 Bq. High content of monazite and other REE minerals indicates that tailing is a very rich, potential source of REE s, although the presence of radioactive elements at the moment is a technological obstacle in their processing and use. The utilization of monazite bearing waste in the Indonesian Islands can be an important factor for development and economic activation of this region and an example of the good practice of circular economy rules.

The importance and the role of minerals in the economy of a country or the world is highlighted by the use of the following terms: scarce mineral, critical mineral, and strategic mineral. The validity of the raw material in the economic processes and knowledge about the sources of its acquisition, access barriers, and the shaping of prices on the domestic and international market allow the development of an action strategy. The strategy must take into account the objective of the action, time horizon, the kind of the instruments that need to be used, and the scope of international cooperation. The importance of the raw material for the country is not only the volume of turnover and volume of production obtained thanks to its application. There are also historical, cultural and social reasons for its importance. The authors present arguments for another meaning of the term – mineral criticality. They also point out the linguistic differences between the term “criticality” in Polish and English. They propose to consider water, medicinal raw materials, some rock resources and amber as critical raw materials for various reasons.

In Poland, the mineral sector generates 110–130 million tons of wastes annually (in the last 20 years), and metal ore mining alone was responsible for 31.2 million tons of wastes in 2017. The slags deposited at the Polkowice were investigated. This waste may be a potential source of many valuable metals (Zn, Pb, Cu, Sb, Sn, Se). The tailings dump in Polkowice contains approximately 80,000 tons of slag. The material contains primary phases formed by pyrometallurgical processes and secondary phases, which are the result of transformation of primary components. The primary phases are represented by sulfides: sphalerite [ZnS]; wurtzite [(Zn,Fe)S]; pyrite [FeS2]; sulfates: beaverite-(Zn) [Pb(Fe3+ 2Zn)(SO4)2(OH)6]; palmierite [(K,Na)2Pb(SO4)2]; oxides and hydroxides: goethite [Fe3+O(OH)]; wüestite [FeO]; hematite [Fe2O3]; magnetite [Fe2+Fe3+ 2O4]; chromian spinel [Fe2+Cr3+ 2O4]; silicates: petedunnite [Ca(Zn,Mn2+,Mg,Fe2+)Si2O6]; quartz [SiO2]; and microcline [KAlSi3O8]. Additionally, SEM -BSE observations revealed that oxidized native metals (Cu, Pb, As) and metal alloys and semi-metals appear. The slag consists mainly of SiO2 (13.70–20.60 wt%), Fe2O3 (24.90–39.62 wt%) and subordinately of CaO (2.71–6.94 wt%) and MgO (1.34–4.68 wt%). High contents are formed by Zn (9.42–17.38 wt%), Pb (5.13–13.74 wt%) and Cu (1.29–2.88 wt%). The slag contains trace elements Mo (487.4–980.1 ppm), Ni (245.3–530.7 ppm), Sn (2380.0–4441.5 ppm), Sb (2462.8–4446.0 ppm), Se (168.0–293.0 ppm). High concentrations are formed by toxic elements, such as e.g. As (13 100–22 600 ppm) and Cd (190.5–893.1 ppm). It is estimated that the tailings dump has accumulated about 80,000 t of slag, which may contain about 10,000 t of Zn, about 6,700 t of Pb, and 1,500 t of Cu.