Porphyry extractive activity in the Atesino Volcanic District (North of Italy): petrochemical characterization of materials placed in landfill

In the Trentino-Alto Adige region different types of stone materials are extracted, including the porphyry of the Atesino Volcanic Complex. Trentino porphyry from natural splitting stone has gradually gained more and more space in the last 25-30 years also in the market of sawn, flamed and polished products, which bring it back fully in the family of ornamental stones. This evolution has led to a significant increase in mining in the Trentino area with a consequent increase in the quantities of materials placed in landfills.

Porphyry landfills represent one of the most significant landscape-environmental and economic problems for the Trentino region. This involves a waste of natural resources, an increasing occupation of areas by processing waste, as well as profound morphological alterations of the landscape which can have repercussions on the stability of the slopes, also due to the difficulty of taking root.

The problem of the disposal of waste materials is becoming more and more pressing. From this arises the need to investigate possible sectors of interest for an alternative use of these materials.

In this regard, some landfills were sampled in the area between the towns of Baselga di Pinè to the east, Lavis to the west, bounded by an imaginary line that joins the towns of Fornace and Meano to the south and joins the towns of S. Michele all’Adige and Segonzano to the north.

Different samples collected were petrographically studied, through microscopically observation of thin sections, and petrochemically characterized by analysis in X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), at the laboratories of the University of Ferrara.

This study has highlighted the possible reuse in the ceramic sector of part of the materials placed in some of the landfills examined. A more in-depth and extensive study of the materials of the landfills in the stone Atesino District would allow the creation of a complete database useful for identifying the most suitable sites where to find atypical raw materials to be used in ceramic mixtures.