Minerals Down Under is working closely with mining companies, SMEs and mining technology service providers to develop technology-based solutions to address the challenges of increasing production costs, declining ore grades, complex ores with higher levels of impurities and increasing pressure from regulators to improve environmental performance. It is seeking expressions of interest in improving tailings management.

With increasing production rates and declining ore grades the volume of tailings is rapidly increasing, making their management one of the big challenges facing the minerals industry.

Recent developments in the understanding of flocculation, gravity thickening, slurry pipeline transport, conveying and tailings stack design, present an opportunity to significantly improve the design and operation of tailings storage facilities (TSF).

CSIRO, ATC Williams and the University of Western Australia (UWA), through AMIRA International, propose a multidisciplinary research initiative to improve the economic and environmental performance of TSFs. Through the P1087 Integrated Tailings Management project researchers intend to:

• Develop a reliable and integrated suite of measurement and modelling tools to assess and design tailings preparation systems for both brownfield and greenfield sites
• Develop tools to assess the stability and seepage behaviour of deposited paste and thickened tailings
• Build and share a comprehensive knowledge base of ‘best practice in design and operation’ across the minerals industry
• Identify opportunities for new configurations of dewatering, tailings transport and storage with the intention of facilitating a step change improvement in tailings management
• Assist sponsors to apply the project outcomes for their specific needs
• Make key tools developed available to sponsors using proven technology transfer processes.