MINING CHEMICALS
Paul Moore spoke to Chuck Price, Executive Vice President at Solvay Technology Solutions, about some of the key issues in the mining chemicals market
Q When you say Solvay provides technology solutions rather than just chemicals, can you summarise what you mean by that in terms of the mining customer?
A For Solvay, being a solution provider is much more than providing chemicals. Our mission is to help our customers optimise their operations. That starts with a clear understanding of the mine’ s operational objectives. From there we can develop a reagent proposal, frequently tailored to the specific mine site. It’ s an approach that also goes deeper to include items such as dosing schemes and application recommendations. In order to provide this support, we have approximately 175 professionals distributed globally and in close contact with the mines. We know that things change on a regular basis in our industry, and we are constantly working with our customers to adapt to those changes and keep their operation optimised. Of course items such as a robust supply chain, product stewardship and quality control are part of the solution we offer. And they are no small part of our overall portfolio of solutions.
Q Bulk chemicals versus specialty chemicals – to what extent is the industry moving away from domination of chemicals such as bulk xanthates towards more ore specific solutions, especially as operations are now dealing with the‘ difficult’ ores with easy won metals already exhausted in many cases?
A It’ s a trend no one can afford to ignore.‘ Mother Nature’ is imposing this challenge on all of us. Simply put, the current mineral reserves do not possess the same quality as previous ones and will only worsen over time. In this environment, the more classic bulk chemicals such as xanthates are failing to provide the expected metallurgical performance for challenging ores. We see that in more mature markets, which have depleted the‘ easy to treat’ ores. They have already moved on from these types of chemistries in the separation process and understand that it’ s imperative to carefully choose the right chemical combination for each specific ore and separation process. There is no longer a‘ one size fits all’ in mining chemistry. By offering our customers a deep product portfolio, technical knowhow and applications expertise, we bring significant value in helping them arrive at the right selection of chemicals to optimise their operations. What’ s more, many of the
historical bulk chemicals come with environmental challenges, either in handling, application or environmental impact. We see a lot of our customers looking to move away from reagents such as sodium hydrosulphide or xanthates in favor of chemistries with better performance and environmental profiles.
Q Equally with the ramp up of demand and therefore project development for commodities such as cobalt, lithium, graphite, PGMs, REOs etc., has this fueled a new era of R & D in the mining chemicals sector to address these new operations?
A Driven largely by the growth of electric vehicles, the increasing demand for battery metals is creating a positive challenge for miners to increase productivity throughput. This challenge will be met through innovation. We are currently working with customers who wish to increase the productivity of their copper and cobalt concentrate and an exciting project to purify and concentrate lithium through solvent extraction. We are inspired by this new reality and working on several promising projects in the battery space.
Q Do bulk chemicals still have a key role to play, such as acids for leaching, xanthates for large throughput sulphide ore flotation and cyanide for gold processing? This is unlikely to change?
A Yes, those classic chemistries are efficient in some situations and will continue to have a role in the industry. However, we believe that environmental trends and restrictions coupled with the challenges involved in treating more difficult ores will position them in more of a
secondary category versus where they are today. For certain applications like cyanide leach, there are strong unmet needs which have yet to be answered through innovation and current technologies.
Q Industry consolidation – the market is now dominated by only a few players such as Solvay and Clariant along with some regional players. Has consolidation meant that players like you are now dealing with key Tier 1 miners on more of a global multi operation basis whereas in the past it was very much operation by operation?
A It’ s true that larger players like us have the ability to talk to Tier 1 miners and develop a corporate approach for servicing their operations. Our relationships extend from the board room to the mine site. It is also true that each operation is unique and often requires unique solutions to extract the most value from its operations. I would say that we work strategically with Tier 1 miners on similar initiatives and trends. However, our true value lies in taking each site’ s input and individual requirements in order to define offerings and services to meet their unique needs and objectives.
Q Is there more environmental scrutiny on chemicals than ever before? Does this extend to how they are regulated and certified for use as well as how they are transported?
A Without question our industry is far more regulated than in the past. Countries and regulatory frameworks like the European Union’ s REACH require extensive study and registration of chemistries before importation. The level of knowledge required of mine operators on every step in their supply line, including storage and transportation, has significantly increased and become more and more sophisticated. We’ ve seen a number of reagent supply chain disruptions out of China that have included explosions at ports and the closure of noncompliant operations. The supply of bulk reagents has been problematic. At Solvay we see this as an opportunity to differentiate the value we bring, and we have been called in to support customers with difficulty in their supply lines. Ours is an industry that increasingly values partners like us who have built sustainable and compliant supply chains. In the long run, this is a trend from which we will all benefit.
MAY 2018 | International Mining 29