The cross-disciplinary team of Metso and University of Cape Town (UCT) took first place in the Mining Innovation and Research Battlefield competition held in Cape Town, South Africa, from February 3-6.
Participants were challenged to present innovative and sustainable solutions for revolutionising tailings management and achieving zero harm, while supporting a more responsible and circular mining economy. The Metso and UCT team’s approach to sustainable tailings management propelled them to first place in the competition. The team was awarded a $25,000 research grant for their success.
Metso said: “The winning approach of the Metso and UCT team focused on decoupling water and tailings and enabling distributed, mineral-specific water circuits. The concept is based on years of research at a medium-sized concentrator and focuses on the fundamental principles of electrochemistry of sulphide flotation and on understanding the interactions between sulphur minerals and process water.”
Eija Saari, Senior Manager, ECO-system at Metso, said: “The results indicate that immediate decoupling of tailings and water allows for the preservation of recycled water quality. Separate water circuits enable additional revenues and improve profitability by tailoring the water matrix of each flotation circuit to the mineral-specific surface chemistry requirements. Decoupling tailings and water also allow for the implementation of any tailings treatment process without affecting the operation of the main process itself. Consequently, the innovation proposes a paradigm shift in how to move towards a more resilient mineral resource conversion.”
Metso’s team comprised of Diana Kasymova, Academic Researcher; PhD. Eija Saari; and D.Sc. Kari Heiskanen, Technology Director, Professor. The UCT team consisted of Lisa October, PhD. Senior Lecturer; Rešoketšwe Manenzhe, PhD. Post-Doctoral Researcher; and Kirsten Corin, PhD. Professor.
Mining Innovation and Research Battlefield is a competitive event held as part of the annual Mining Indaba conference. The competition brings together innovative thinkers from the mining industry, academia, NGOs and young leaders to present solutions to sustainability challenges in the mining sector.
Metso’s holistic solutions for tailings processing reduce water use, environmental impact, risks and costs. The OEM says it helps mining companies to not only maximise water recovery but to also reduce the footprint of tailings storage facilities. In addition, Metso can support with the right solutions for tailings reprocessing to extract the remaining valuable minerals. Metso’s offering for tailings management starts with initial studies, test work and flowsheet development.