Tag Archives: nickel

JP Morgan-backed financing paves way for further MineSense growth

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MineSense Technologies Ltd says it has closed a $42 million Series E financing led by J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Sustainable Growth Equity team that, it says, will allow it to accelerate the commercial deployment of its solutions to drive further growth and profitability.

The funding round includes participation from new investor Evok Innovations, a climate technology and sustainability venture fund, and existing investors including Prelude Ventures, BDC Industrial Innovation Venture Fund, Cycle Capital and Chrysalix Venture Capital.

MineSense has been pioneering data-driven solutions that improve ore grade control, operational profitability and carbon intensity across the metals mining industry. It is doing this through a combination of its ShovelSense® and BeltSense® hardware, a digital platform and geoscientific insight that goes beyond purely grade-based orebody information.

ShovelSense provides precise ore/waste definition and unlocks unique, previously inaccessible data sets at the mine’s extraction face, according to the company. This real-time data enables removal of waste from ore and recovers valuable ore from waste by making smart routing decisions that also reduces the amount of waste processed, production of tailings, and energy, water, and reagent consumption. Metal recovery is increased materially, with production from operating mines increasing by 5-25% on existing infrastructure, according to the company.

The company has initially been focused on copper, with those mining companies that have signed up to use its solutions looking to maximise ore recovery, minimise dilution and enhance operational sustainability.

MineSense says it has tripled revenue over the last year, and was recently recognised as one of the fastest growing companies in North America by Deloitte.

It currently currently serves mines across North and South America, with notable deployments in British Columbia (Teck’s Highland Valley Copper, Copper Mountain Mining’s operation and Taseko Mines’ Gibraltar operation), Chile (Carmen de Andacollo) and Peru (Antamina).

The fundraising will allow the company to expand its coverage globally and extend into other critical metals such as nickel, cobalt, zinc and iron, it said.

Jeff More, CEO of MineSense, said: “We are pleased to partner with J.P. Morgan Sustainable Growth Equity and Evok to scale our ore grade data mining solutions. This funding and strategic support will allow us to continue executing on our strategy of delivering profit enhancement, operational efficiency, and carbon intensity reduction to critical mining operations.”

Draslovka about to move into glycine leaching mining demonstration phase

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Czech Republic-based Draslovka Holding is heading into a busy 12-month period where its glycine leaching technology will be showcased at numerous mining projects across the globe, the company told IM on the side lines of the Resourcing Tomorrow conference, in London, this week.

According to Ivor Bryan, Director of Mining Innovation at Draslovka Mining Solutions and the former MD of Mining & Process Solutions (MPS), the entity responsible for the development of the GlyCat™ and GlyLeach™ technologies, the company is embarking on around 10 projects in the mining space, which will prove up the 3,500 hours of testing that has been conducted at MPS’ facilities in Perth, Western Australia.

MPS was acquired by Draslovka, a major sodium cyanide producer in 2022, with the aim of the transaction being to grow and develop the glycine leaching business.

Gold leach testing via GlyCat has been the major area of focus over the last decade. The process was invented to reduce cyanide consumption while maintaining gold recovery for gold ores from deposits containing nuisance copper. It has been designed to enhance the dissolution of gold and copper in gold/copper ores where glycine is used as a catalyst with cyanide in a cyanide-starved leaching environment. It doesn’t replace cyanide, but, in fact, enhances its leaching capabilities by dealing with the high-cyanide consuming copper within these gold-copper orebodies.

Yet, the company is also now starting to make inroads into the base metal space through GlyLeach, with nickel and cobalt two specific areas of interest. The technology is able to leach the targeted metals with enhanced selectivity compared with conventional methods. It will solubilise copper, nickel, cobalt and zinc, while gangue minerals such as iron, manganese, silicates and carbonates remain in the leach residue, Draslovka says.

This is allowing the company to promote that it can reduce the capital expenditure associated with processing these metals by removing the need for smelting, or in the case of tailings deposits, helping recover metal from assets previously written off as ‘waste’.

While the technology could have applications at run of mine operations, Bryan and his colleague Jackson Briggs, Corporate Development Manager of Draslovka, believe the most immediate opportunity is in tailings where the application of glycine leaching on ‘waste’ material could recover valuable metals while reducing the potential liabilities associated with such storage facilities.

Of the 10 or so projects the company has ahead of it, one is situated in Western Australia where the company is looking to recover nickel and cobalt metals from a tailings deposit of a major mining company.

Another project – much closer to fruition – is in Chile and involves leaching a carbonate-hosted copper oxide deposit containing some 600 t of material.

In both cases, the company is looking to demonstrate that it can recover valuable metals at high recovery rates, with low impact – namely rationalising reagent and water use and, in the case of nickel-cobalt, removing smelting from the equation.

This, according to Draslovka CEO, Pavel Bruzek, is a “win-win” for mining companies and their stakeholders, benefitting both the balance sheet and the operational environmental footprint.

“While we are a major sodium cyanide producer, when we saw the potential of MPS’ glycine leaching technology and the increase in metallurgical complexity of orebodies looking to be exploited, it made perfect sense to work with and promote this technology,” he told IM. “It is the responsible thing to do for the industry.”

Metso Outotec to deliver thickeners for nickel HPAL project in Indonesia

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Metso Outotec says it will deliver thickeners for a nickel laterite hydrometallurgy project owned by China’s Ningbo Lygend Resources Technology Ltd on Ono island in Indonesia.

The order covers 25 state-of-the-art thickener units for its nickel laterite HPAL (High Pressure Acid Leaching) project, the OEM says.

Metso Outotec’s scope of delivery includes several Planet Positive thickening products, including High Rate, High Compression, and Paste Thickening technologies equipped with ReactorwellTM feed system where applicable, it added.

“Ningbo Lygend produces high quality MHP (Mixed Hydroxide Precipitation) raw material for battery production in Indonesia,” Paul Sohlberg, Senior Vice President, Minerals Separation, Metso Outotec, said. “They chose Metso Outotec thickeners for their project, thanks to our sustainable, state-of-the-art technology combined with our good understanding and references of similar process plants. The Metso Outotec thickeners enable optimised production and high recovery rates.”

Metso Outotec says it is a global leader in the design, fabrication and supply of thickening and clarifying solutions and related services for the mining industry and has delivered over 2,400 thickeners to its customers worldwide.

The Ningbo Lygend Resources order strengthens the company’s position in nickel laterite HPAL applications, it added.

Wallis Drilling wins three-year contract extension at Glencore’s Murrin Murrin op

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Glencore has signed a three-year contract extension with Wallis Drilling to retain the drilling company’s services at Murrin Murrin in Western Australia’s Goldfields region, which will extend Wallis’ long-standing relationship at the Glencore-owned operation to over a quarter of a century, the service provider says.

Wallis Drilling is a local Western Australian business, founded in 1965 by Marty and Jamie Wallis, which has grown to over 300 employees, but remains a family run business today.

Wallis has provided services to Glencore’s Murrin Murrin operation for 24 years and the contract extension, running through to September 2025, will see Wallis Drilling continue to provide RC grade control and blasthole drilling at Murrin Murrin.

Murrin Murrin is a nickel-cobalt mining and processing operation between Leonora and Laverton in the north-eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia and currently provides work for over 1,000 employees and contractors.

Wallis Drilling Manager, Wayne Waters, oversees the Murrin Murrin contract, with his role previously being occupied by Grant Wallis who is now the Chief Operating Officer of the business.

Waters said: “Murrin Murrin, like Wallis, understands the importance of establishing and nurturing long-term relationships to create stability, which has been exemplified by the latest contract extension.

“This business certainty is beneficial to Wallis, but it also gives us the capacity to plan for the long-term on site at Murrin Murrin and deliver the best operational outcomes.”

Grant Wallis said: “Our work at Murrin Murrin has helped us grow from a small family business to one of Australia’s largest privately-owned minerals drilling companies, while still remaining true to our local WA roots.”

Nic Fenner, Head of Mining Technical Services at Murrin Murrin, said: “We are very proud to help grow local Western Australia businesses, like Wallis Drilling, and help be a part in their success stories.

“The strong relationship between Murrin Murrin Operations and Wallis has been underpinned by our shared values and culture. Murrin Murrin and Wallis both have many long serving employees with some even being the second generation in their family to work at Murrin Murrin.”

Horizonte Minerals appoints MIP/Milpan as electro-mechanical contractor for Araguaia

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Horizonte Minerals Plc has selected MIP Engenharia & Milplan Engenharia to provide the electro-mechanical installation services at its 100%-owned Araguaia nickel project in Brazil.

Following a competitive tender process that involved the leading industrial construction companies active in the mining sector, MIP/Milpan was selected as the preferred provider, Horizonte said.

“MIP/Milpan has a strong track record and importantly, prior rotary kiln-electric furnace (RKEF) experience from Vale’s Onça Puma mine, a ferronickel mine with a similar processing flowsheet to Araguaia, and a number of other major mining projects in the Carajas region,” Horizonte said. “MIP/Milpan is well placed to be able to provide access to a skilled workforce, which can be redeployed from projects that are being completed elsewhere in Pará, Brazil, further de-risking Araguaia’s development schedule.”

Horizonte says mobilisation of the MIP/Milpan workforce is already underway to begin furnace assembly activities on site at Araguaia, with the contract award taking the level of committed spend to over $400 million as part of the project’s development.

Jeremy Martin, CEO of Horizonte Minerals, said: “MIP/Milplan have a proven track record of successfully delivering large projects in Brazil and across the mining sector, in particular a wealth of experience at a similar ferronickel project, having worked on Vale’s Onça Puma ferronickel mine.

“This is another important step forward in the construction of Araguaia, further de-risking the project’s timeline, which remains on schedule for first nickel in Q1 (March quarter) 2024. With the award of every new contract, we take a step closer to our objective of becoming a global leader in primary nickel production.”

The Araguaia project comprises an open-pit nickel laterite mining operation that delivers ore from a number of pits to a central RKEF metallurgical processing facility. The metallurgical process comprises a single line RKEF to extract FeNi from the ore. After an initial ramp-up period, the plant will reach a full capacity of approximately 900,000 t/y of dry ore feed to produce 52,000 t of ferronickel, in turn containing 14,500 t/y of nickel. The FeNi product will be transported by road to the port of Vila do Conde in the north of the State for sale to overseas customers.

Ring of Fire Metals exploring wind power and ‘carbon removal’ options for Eagle’s Nest

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Ring of Fire Metals (RoF Metals) says it has commenced two studies exploring the use of wind power and atmospheric carbon removal as part of planning for a net zero emissions mine in northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire.

Stephen Crozier, RoF Metals VP Sustainability, said the findings from a study of the wind energy resource conducted by global renewable energy company Windlab earlier this year were promising.

“Our primary focus in the development of Eagle’s Nest is to implement low emissions technologies throughout the operation, wherever possible,” he said. “We are encouraged by the results of the initial wind study and believe there is good potential to generate clean energy using wind turbines in the area, which we will further define with additional study in the near term.

“Other options for complementary low- and no-emission generation, including biomass, pumped hydro and solar, are also being investigated to supplement clean wind energy production if needed.”

Following completion of the Windlab study, RoF Metals installed a Vaisala WindCube® LiDAR (pictured) for the collection of more detailed data.

Crozier added: “Unlike traditional tower installations, LiDAR devices obtain measurements throughout the air column from the base to the top of the turbine blades rather than just at the hub. We have already started collecting detailed data using WindCube and will continue throughout the seasons to track natural weather variability.

“Data from both studies will then be matched with projected power demand to guide modelling of power generation and storage options for the proposed Eagle’s Nest mine.

“Ultimately we would like to be able to draw upon and potentially supply to Ontario’s power grid when it is expanded to northern communities.”

RoF Metals is also participating in the DETAILS project with Dr Liam Bullock at Geosciences Barcelona, an institute of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (GEO3BCN-CSIC), to investigate the potential to use mine tailings to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Crozier said the tailings from ultramafic nickel deposits have been shown to have the potential to absorb significant quantities of carbon dioxide, and there may be ways the company can speed up the rate that this happens.

“We have provided Geosciences Barcelona with samples of tailings from the Eagle’s Nest project and they are evaluating their potential for carbon dioxide absorption,” he explained. “We hope to be able to use our tailings to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and safely and permanently store it underground.”

Eagle’s Nest is, according to Ring of Fire Metals, one of the largest undeveloped, high-grade nickel-copper-platinum-palladium deposits in the world, located in the Ring of Fire. Based on existing exploration work, Eagle’s Nest will have an initial mine life of 11 years, with the potential for a nine-year extension. It will produce modest volumes of high value product via selective underground mining methods that minimise surface disruption, according to the company. The mined ore will be processed into 150,000 t/y of nickel-copper and platinum group element bearing concentrate.

Phoenix Tailings receives US DoE funding for ‘carbon-negative’ tech development

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Phoenix Tailings, a US-based critical materials extraction and refining startup, is to receive $1.2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to extract nickel and magnesium from mining waste using what it says is “carbon negative technology”.

These metals are crucial to the production of the batteries that fuel cars, computers and phones using a zero-emissions process, it said.

Phoenix Tailings was one of 16 projects across the country to receive the funding as part of the Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy Mining Innovations for Negative Emissions Resource Recovery program, which aims to develop market-ready technologies that will increase domestic supplies of critical elements required for the clean energy transition.

The funding will support Phoenix Tailings’ work to extract nickel and magnesium from mining tailings through a process that uses carbonisation and recycled carbon dioxide. The process, which is carbon negative, generates high-purity nickel oxide and magnesium carbonate.

Phoenix Tailings, Co-Founder Anthony Balladon (pictured), said: “Think about all the products we use that rely on batteries – from computers to EVs to tactical weapons systems. We depend on the metals that make up these batteries, but rarely think about the environmental impacts of producing them. At Phoenix Tailings we have found a carbon negative way to recover nickel from mining waste, or tailings. We are grateful for the ARPA-E funding to help propel this project forward and ensure there’s a sustainable way to create these metals without producing harmful by-products.”

U.S. Secretary of Energy, Jennifer M Granholm, said: “A reliable, sustainable domestic supply chain of critical materials that power longer-lasting batteries and other next-generation energy technologies is crucial to reaching our clean energy future. With these investments, DOE is helping to reinvigorate American manufacturing to reduce our overreliance on adversarial nations and position the nation as a global leader of research and innovation.”

Clariant opens new competence centre in Dubai focused on decarbonisation minerals

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Clariant Mining Solutions has opened a dedicated global Competence Center for Decarbonization Minerals (CCDM) at the Dubai Science Park in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

This laboratory is designed to meet the increasing global demand for solutions to process decarbonisation minerals more efficiently, it said.

The decarbonisation of the production and transportation of goods and services is a growing megatrend. Mining is one of the key foundational industries enabling decarbonisation by delivering the minerals required for these technologies, such as nickel, cobalt and lithium for batteries for electric vehicles, rare earths for magnets in wind turbines and alumina for lighter-weight vehicles and solar panels.

Research activities will include improving metallurgical performance by maximising recovery and grade, optimising cost performance, and creating more sustainable solutions for the processing of decarbonisation minerals, it said.

“Our new Competence Center is another important milestone in our purpose-led strategy to become a sustainability leader in mining chemicals,” George Nunes, Global Head of Clariant Mining Solutions, said.

The Copper Mark launches pilot assurance frameworks for molybdenum, nickel and zinc

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The Copper Mark says it is launching the pilot implementation of the Molybdenum, Nickel and Zinc Marks, in an effort to bring the assurance framework to more markets.

Producers of these metals are able to use the Copper Mark assurance framework to achieve their respective “Mark”, thereby signaling their leadership in sustainability and responsible production practices, the Copper Mark explained.

The main objective of the pilot is to test the implementation of the Copper Mark assurance framework for nickel, zinc and molybdenum producers. In particular, it aims to better understand the application of the multi-metal approach for single and multi-metal producers and the extent to which the multi-metal approach supports participants’ ability to meet upcoming regulatory requirements and market expectations.

The pilot is the result of a deepening collaboration between the Copper Mark, the International Molybdenum Association (IMOA), the Nickel Institute (NI), and the International Zinc Association (IZA) to promote sustainable and responsible production and sourcing practices within the copper, molybdenum, nickel and zinc value chains.

The pilot will run from November 2022 to July 2023 and will include the independent third-party site assessment of the participating sites against the Copper Mark Responsible Production Criteria, the Risk Readiness Assessment. The site may receive the Molybdenum Mark, Nickel Mark and/or Zinc Mark if the independent assessment confirms all criteria are fully or partially met. A full launch for producers of molybdenum, nickel, and zinc is planned for 2023, the Copper Mark says.

The collaboration makes use of existing standards and systems. The four organisations are not establishing any new standards. Participation in the pilot is voluntary and is open to any site involved in the extraction, processing, treatment, mixing, recycling, handling, or otherwise manipulating of products containing molybdenum, nickel, or zinc mined ore, metals, chemicals, alloys or other materials.

Michèle Brülhart, Executive Director of the Copper Mark, said: “I am excited to welcome molybdenum, nickel and zinc producers to the Copper Mark assurance framework. It is widely acknowledged that the world will require more metals and minerals in the coming decades to drive the energy transition and other sustainable applications, but it is critical that those metals and minerals be produced and sourced responsibly. This collaboration further increases the percentage of responsibly produced copper, nickel, molybdenum, and zinc available to society.”

Eva Model, Secretary-General of IMOA said: “Demonstrating responsible sourcing across the supply chain is now a necessity in our modern world. IMOA is delighted to be participating in this important pilot. It offers our molybdenum-producing members the opportunity to access a credible assurance framework with an already globally established set of criteria that can be readily adapted to the molybdenum supply chain. We look forward to working with Copper Mark, and our members to ensure the smooth delivery of the pilot.”

Hudson Bates, President of NI said: “The pilot is an important step towards our goal of providing multi-metal producers with a common framework to efficiently assess and report their sustainable production and sourcing performance across their various value chains.”

Andrew Green, Executive Director of IZA said: “The pilot implementation of this assurance framework represents our commitment to enable transparent reporting and best practices for responsible sourcing across the zinc value chain. The close collaboration between partners ensures that our members can expect harmonised.”

Wood gets second bite at Vermelho nickel-cobalt project development

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Horizonte Minerals Plc has awarded Wood Plc the principal engineering contract to undertake the feasibility study for its 100%-owned Vermelho nickel-cobalt project, in Brazil.

Vermelho is a large high-grade, long mine life, scalable resource, designed to be a low-cost producer of nickel and cobalt for the battery industry, Horizonte says. The Vermelho FS contract award is another key milestone for Horizonte as it advances towards its long-term objective of becoming a 60,000 t/y nickel producer, following the start of construction at Araguaia, its ferronickel project, early this year, which is on schedule to produce first nickel in the March quarter of 2024.

Vermelho is designed to produce 25,000 t/y of nickel and 1,250 t/y of cobalt over a 38-year mine life. The prefeasibility study (dated October 2019) estimated a post-tax internal rate of return of 38.6% using a nickel price of $23,000/t.

Wood, Horizonte says, is a global leader in project delivery, engineering and technical services with experience across a number of the major high pressure leach nickel operations globally.

Jeremy Martin, CEO of Horizonte Minerals, said: “The commencement of the feasibility study is an important step forward in unlocking Vermelho’s significant value. There are very few nickel resources of this scale and quality at an advanced stage of development, leaving Vermelho well positioned to capitalise on the growing demand for sustainable critical metals.

“Vermelho is located in the Carajás mining district, an area that features well-developed infrastructure and hydroelectric power. The project is designed to produce nickel in intermediate or refined form and will be a globally significant, non-conflict, ethical source of cobalt.

“Araguaia and Vermelho have a combined inventory of over 4 Mt of nickel. By leveraging the synergies of these two world-class projects, located within trucking distance of each other in a stable and pro mining jurisdiction, Horizonte is well positioned to deliver its growth target of producing 60,000 t of nickel per year, placing the company amongst the global leaders in primary nickel production outside Indonesia.”

Wood (formerly GRD Minproc) undertook a successful Vermelho feasibility study for Vale between 2003 and 2006. In this regard, it already has a detailed understanding of the project, enabling it to leverage this existing knowledge during the process of producing this updated study for Horizonte, the company said.