What are some innovative solutions to mine tailings?

Mining operations generate large volumes of mine waste, including tailings.

Tailings As Resource
Another productive means of utilising tailings is to create more sustainable by-products. This includes everything from commercial shotcrete and concrete products for self-sustaining uses such as mine roads, brick and tile manufacture, insulation, or even foamed products.

Tailings as a resource has further positive implications for the environment – by recycling existing ‘waste’ to manufacture products, less tailings requires storage, and, as in the case of backfill, less water is trapped within the tailings.

Mine Tailings Manage
There are a variety of new ways to manage tailings storage, from slurry containment to dry stacks. Identifying the most appropriate method of tailings storage is imperative to ensuring that the operation is safe and sustainable.

The technology is evolving and shifting the gears towards adoption of smart and hybrid solutions that maximize ore and water recovery while optimizing operational costs. At the same time, the mine operators need an economically viable solution to dewater high tonnage of tailings when compared to traditional technologies.