DEWATERING TECHNOLOGY
Creating value from waste
Metso discusses why tailings reprocessing is key to the mining sector’s future
By Niclas Hällevall
F
or some time already, ore reserves have been depleting with mines going deeper. Huge volumes of waste, or tailings, are being generated with the growing need to process more and more ore. And recent devastating tailings dam failures have brought safety and environment concerns to the forefront, thereby increasing the pressure to search for alternatives. There have also been stronger regulatory compliances affecting the social licence to operate in many regions. Though the industry has been taking positive steps to become more responsible towards local community welfare with optimum utilization of natural resources, many significant challenges still remain. Metso has launched a new tailings
Metso believes the mining industry will move away from tailings ponds towards dry tailings in the future. CREDIT: METSO/SHUTTERSTOCK
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MINING JOURNAL
management concept catering to these needs. It offers miners a sustainable way to handle tailings and a new value-creation model through the easy reprocessing of tailings. Need for a future ready solution There are millions of tons of tailings being discharged today and billions lying in legacy dams. In fact, a lot of operational and closed tailings facilities have residual mineral values, or secondary metals that might not have been of interest in earlier times. As their orebodies are continuously shrinking, mining companies are looking for viable opportunities to reprocess existing waste. With the advent of novel technologies, mining companies are now figuring out ways to extract valuable metals from tailings. It is well known by the mining indus-
try that the cost of tailings management and reclamation are also becoming increasingly significant factors for sustainable and economically viable mining and long-term survival. While water scarcity has been a driver towards considering dry tailings technology in the past, the question now is around responsible use of resources. “At Metso, we are challenging the conventional way of thinking, while changing the industry view around tailings management in mining. Our emphasis is to include reprocessing of tailings as part of the overall solution,” says Rodrigo Gouveia, vice-president, Tailings Management Systems at Metso. In practice, it is about making the right choice. Mining companies do not just want the most technically suitable equipment to dewater tailings, they want a future ready solution that is able www.canadianminingjournal.com
