Tag Archives: ion exchange

Clean TeQ and Future Element to pool tailings management resources in new JV

Environmental, Mining services, Sustainable mining, Water management, , , , , , , ,

Clean TeQ has formed a 50/50 joint venture, the Future Element Joint Venture, with mine tailings management company Future Element Pty Ltd (FE), to, it says, focus on tailings management, metal recovery and waste remediation opportunities.

Clean TeQ will provide the JV with licences for its proprietary ATA® accelerated dewatering technology and its suite of Clean-IX® ion exchange technologies, with immediate access to both Clean TeQ’s and FE’s opportunity pipeline.

Clean TeQ’s CEO, Peter Voigt, said: “This is an exciting time for Clean TeQ as we look to leverage our technologies into market segments that are long-term value accretive for our shareholders. The JV with Future Element combines years of technical innovation and development with highly credentialled and commercially orientated executives to deliver solutions to the mining industry for its most critical problems. We aim to transform the industry and lead with environmentally sound tailings rehabilitation while generating material cashflows from what were previously considered waste management liabilities.”

The global inventory of mine tailings is estimated at 282 billion tonnes, with 16 billion tonnes of new mine tailings being produced every year, representing a significant opportunity to use Clean TeQ technologies to convert liabilities into valuable assets, Clean TeQ says. The mining industry’s social licence to operate depends on environmentally sound tailings rehabilitation. Clean TeQ’s strategy is to raise environmental standards and reduce tailings management costs via sustainable metal production and enhanced water management.

With the licensing of Clean TeQ’s proprietary ATA and Clean-IX technologies to the Future Element JV, Clean TeQ says it has established a business that can offer the mining industry a holistic, end-to-end mine tailings rehabilitation solution that:

  • Transforms tailings into benign and/or valuable products via separation of solids and water to allow solid materials to be rehabilitated or repurposed and water to be recycled or released;
  • Unlocks tailings value, via recovery and monetisation of metals and minerals, providing new profit streams and the ability to offset rehabilitation costs and liabilities; and
  • Eencompasses development, funding and operation using best-in-class tailings management by an experienced team with a track record in asset delivery.

Boss looks for opex, production boost at Honeymoon uranium project with NIMCIX transition

Energy minerals, Metallurgy, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , ,

Boss Resources has announced plans to evaluate the replacement of the existing solvent extraction (SX) columns on the Honeymoon uranium mine site, in South Australia, with new NIMCIX columns.

Initial results from test work indicate the potential for this to increase production profile and reduce operating costs for the project, Boss said.

The NIMCIX contactor is a continuous ion exchange (IX) column developed by Mintek (then the National Institute for Metallurgy – NIM) during the uranium boom of the 1970s and 1980s. A notable breakthrough, it enabled uranium to be recovered from unclarified solutions, according to Mintek.

Following a January 2020 feasibility study on Honeymoon, the company has embarked on technical optimisation studies which included completing NIMCIX IX process detail design and testing. In August, cost saving results from a GR Engineering review relating to reduced site power demand and transmission line upgrade costs were announced.

These savings, along with the NIMCIX results have incentivised Boss to initiate an Enhanced Feasibility Study (EFS) to incorporate the potentially significant enhancements identified, it said.

Boss’s restart and expansion plans have been split into separate stages, of which Stage 1 and 2 are presented as the base case for the Honeymoon feasibility study, showing that production can recommence within a 12-month period. Stage 1 development focused on the restart of the existing SX plant, which has a nameplate capacity of 880,000 lb/y U3O8-equivalent. Stage 2 is an expansion strategy that will increase production to 2 Mlb/y U3O8-equivalent and involves the construction of a new IX circuit.

Additional work has now been completed by Boss, ANSTO and GR Engineering examining the potential to replace the existing SX columns on site with new NIMCIX columns.

Boss said: “The results show that it is entirely possible to eliminate the envisaged Stage 1 and incorporate a NIMCIX system with the following stipulations:

  • “The flow rate through the new NIMCIX columns must be equivalent to or higher than the SX system;
  • “The lead time to commissioning should not be significantly impacted;
  • “The overall project capital expenditure intensity should not be impacted; and
  • “As much of the current SX structural and process infrastructure as possible to be re-used.”

The conclusion of this review is that these criteria are achievable and highlighted the potential for lower unit operating cost and higher production rates over the life of mine, according to Boss.

Additional potential benefits of the conversion include:

  • Significantly higher throughput through the plant during Stage 1 and beyond;
  • Improved safety outcomes through the elimination of combustible solvents in process;
  • Improved environmental outcomes through elimination of the potential for organic entrainment to the wellfield; and
  • Simplification of the process through standardisation of uranium extraction technology.

“The company now plans to incorporate both the IX Process Optimisations announced previously and the pure NIMCIX adoption into an EFS level estimate for the Honeymoon uranium project restart to assess the economic impacts of these changes,” it said.

It has re-engaged GR Engineering Services as the engineering and lead study consultant for its EFS leveraging on the recently completed feasibility study completed in January 2020.

“Through the EFS, Boss aspires to increase the ramp up production schedule and nameplate capacity of Honeymoon through the adoption of a wholly IX (NIMCIX) system with the first stage of production ramp up delivered within the original 12-month delivery timeline from an investment decision,” it said.

GR Engineering comes up with cost savings at Boss’ Honeymoon uranium project

Energy minerals, Metallurgy, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining services, , , , , , , ,

GR Engineering Services has reviewed the latest technical optimisation studies related to the restart of the Honeymoon uranium mine, in South Australia, and come up with capital expenditure savings of $6.3 million for owner Boss Resources.

Following the release of the feasibility study in January 2020, Boss embarked on technical optimisation studies which included completion of an identified ion exchange (IX) process detail design and testing, undertaken with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).

The January feasibility study highlighted a capital expenditure of $63.2 million (excluding offsite power provider upgrades) to build the two-stage mine. Stage 1 consisted of refurbishing the existing solvent extraction plant with process improvement to a capacity of 880,000 Ib/y of U308 equivalent, while Stage 2 involved adding an IX circuit to achieve annual production of 2 Mlb/y. This also estimated an average all-in cost of $32.3/lb U308 over the life of mine.

The IX process optimisation program with ANSTO aimed to remove the requirement for solution heating in the elution of uranium from the IX resin. Power input to the elution process necessitated upgrades to the transmission line to service Honeymoon with grid power from Broken Hill, 80 km southeast of the mine.

Boss devised a series of tests in consultation with ANSTO to study the effect of ambient temperature on both the conversion and elution performance, with the conversion work indicating an ambient temperature process could achieve the required conversion performance within the timeframe in the process design.

Furthermore, a 45% reduction in reagent concentration in the conversion process had a negligible effect on conversion performance and offered significant reagent savings, Boss noted.

Test work on the elution process was also successful, the company said. “While there is a small difference in the eluant requirement to achieve complete elution of the resin, there is sufficient capacity in the elution circuit as designed to achieve this without impacting the downstream processes, while facilitating significant energy savings,” it explained.

The remainder of the program aimed to provide additional information to allow detailed equipment design for IX adsorption and elution processes. As a result of this work, Boss made additional changes to the resin sulphation and regeneration processes, which could represent additional cost savings.

Boss commissioned GR Engineering to evaluate the cost implications of the above work on the feasibility study results, initially on a +/- 25% basis, with initial results confirming a capital expenditure reduction of $6.3 million owing to the reduction in heating and insulation requirements for the elution circuit and reagent make up systems, and the reduced transmission line upgrade costs.

Additionally, the engineering company identified the reduction in electricity costs alone represented an operating cost saving of $2.4 million/y, equating to $1.22/lb U308 equivalent.

GR Engineering is now undertaking an evaluation of the operating cost implications of these changes in Stage 2 operations over the life of the overall operation considered in the feasibility study.

“Boss designed the feasibility study to fast-track production from Honeymoon’s existing solvent extraction plant within a 12-month period, following a decision to mine, to capitalise on any improved market fundamentals,” the company said.

It plans to increase production to 2 Mlb/y U308 equivalent through the addition of the IX plant, which will take around 20 months to design, construct and commission.

Boss Resources Managing Director and CEO, Duncan Craib, said: “Boss continues to work on opportunities to optimise Honeymoon as a first-mover uranium restart operation – this outstanding IX test work result is one example.

“We will continue working towards net present value accretive technical advancements and revising estimates contained within the January 2020 feasibility study, strengthening Honeymoon’s potential to be one of the lowest cost uranium producers globally.”

Following these initial results, Boss plans to incorporate these optimisations into a revised feasibility study level estimate for the Honeymoon restart which will also incorporate other initiatives including the conversion of the current solvent extraction infrastructure to a NIMCIX IX system, Boss said.

In parallel, Boss’s exploration team is completing a comprehensive desktop review of the extensive historical exploration database information to define new uranium exploration targets.

“With financial support from the South Australian government to utilise innovative uranium geophysical exploration techniques, exploration is focusing on expansions to known uranium discoveries to increase Honeymoon’s production profile distal to existing JORC mineral resources (total 71.6 Mlb U308),” the company said.

It is envisaged that these new mineralised target areas will form the basis of a study to assess and define Stage 3 production ramp up to produce more than 3 Mlb/y U308 equivalent, Boss said.