Transforming Tailings Solutions

The Global Tailings Review estimates that the total number of active, inactive, and closed tailings storage facilities (TSFs) is 8500, with 217 km³ of tailings. To put it in perspective, this is enough to fill a 6 km high cube – and it is increasing by 12.3 km³ annually. Put simply, how miners manage their tailings is one of the most important – as well as one of the most intractable – challenges facing the industry today.

In recent years, this has sparked increased collaboration between mining companies that are typically competitors and, of course, a renewed focus on partnerships with technology providers and equipment manufacturers. There is an acknowledgement that these are industry-wide challenges affecting every mine and, if the increased demands for the minerals required to enable the transition to a low carbon economy are going to be met, then working together to overcome them will benefit the industry, as well as the broader community.

The International Council on Mining and Metals’ (ICMM) Tailings Reduction Roadmap (2022) highlighted mature solutions that can be implemented in the short-term – such as coarse particle flotation (CPF) technology, which enhances the recovery of coarser particles of ore – as well as solutions with the potential to reduce tailings in significant quantities, but that will require further development over the next 10 – 15 years.

Weir shares this commitment and is rethinking the basic assumptions the mining industry has long harboured about tailings. It is researching and developing innovative technologies and processes in a way that transforms the current value proposition and ensures more sustainable tailings operations.

Transformational tailings flowsheets

Weir has developed a range of transformational flowsheets for tailings management to help miners reduce, rethink, and repurpose their tailings. Weir recognises that its customers have different requirements and different constraints, and its flowsheet-based approach allows it to partner with miners to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each solution and provide a balanced assessment of each approach.

Weir realises that, as an original equipment manufacturer, its tailings management solutions cannot simply be dictated by its product portfolio; rather, through consultation, it learns the constraints of each operation – for instance, water, energy, carbon, and existing footprint – and focuses on designing and validating the best solution to combat these challenges and deliver operational and structural stability.

Essentially, the transformational flowsheets Weir has developed provide a starting point to explore a full suite of tailings management options. They are all customisable, ensuring each operator is able to arrive at the optimal solution based on their needs and objectives.

This is a preview of an article that was originally published in the August 2024 issue of Global Mining Review.

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Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/special-reports/24122024/transforming-tailings-solutions/