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Policy and tech keys to speeding circular journey
Mining laws that open doors to more waste reprocessing can speed the industry ’ s progress down a long road to circular mining and metals value chains , according to Cobalt Blue ’ s Dr Helen Degeling
Held at the ICC Sydney on October 29-31 , IMARC will showcase the most extensive exhibition of cutting-edge equipment and technology all under one roof , organisers say
Speaking about the first Mining , Metals and the Circular Economy forum at IMARC in October , Degeling likened the current sustainability push in Australia to a ( successful ) safety campaign of the 1980s and 1990s that saw safety become “ embedded in the psyche ” of the industry as well as its rubrics .
“ You ’ ve got people who say it ’ s too hard ,” she said . “ It ’ s going to interfere with our operations and we won ’ t be able to operate efficiently . But then you have a whole lot of people who can see that past practices can ’ t be sustained in future .
“ Mine closure and rehabilitation can be done differently . We can extract value from waste and at the same time reduce environmental legacies and risks . We can do better and we know it is the right thing to do .”
Cobalt Blue is planning to be a significant cobalt producer through a new mine on the Broken Hill mineral field in Australia and a proposed cobaltnickel refinery in Western Australia . It is also working with companies such as Hudbay Minerals to build a mine-waste reprocessing arm on the back of the Australian company ’ s patented sulphide waste treatment process .
Hudbay has been looking for ways to recover copper , zinc and precious metals from more than 100 Mt of tailings at its wholly-owned Flin Flon site in Manitoba . The miner is understood to be drawn to Cobalt Blue ’ s IP for its metal recovery value but also its potential to convert environmentally toxic acid-generating sulphide rocks into an elemental sulphur revenue stream .
Hudbay has circa-C $ 300 million ($ 219 million ) of mine restoration liabilities including those at Flin Flon .
Cobalt Blue estimates the world ’ s circa-200 billion tonnes of mine waste is expanding at 10-13 billion tonnes a year . North America is said to have more than 114,000 active and inactive mine sites ; Australia over 10,000 , with 240 mines expected to close by 2040 and mine closure costs predicted to reach A $ 8 billion ($ 5.3 billion ) in 2030 .
Valorisation of mine waste can offset this significant cost as well as yielding less carbon-emission-intensive metals and , where environmental risks are mitigated or removed , cutting site bond and taxpayer-borne site maintenance costs , according to Cobalt Blue .
Environmental bonds paid to governments cover potential damage from mining activities , with re-mining reducing bond costs by lowering project size and risk , freeing up funds for rehabilitation and commercialisation of mine waste .
“ Bringing circularity to a linear industry ” through waste repurposing can have a “ huge impact on how the mining industry contributes to economies , communities and global supply chains ”, according to Cobalt Blue .
The company is assessing a wealth of further tailings processing opportunities in North America and Australia .
“ There is a huge knowledge gap , generally , around tailings ,” Degeling says .
“ Mining companies are required to report on exploration activities , resource development and then mining production activities , but there ' s no requirement beyond environmental impacts to report on the composition of waste .
“ At a national level [ in Australia ] Geoscience Australia are working on collating as much information on mine waste , and characterising that mine waste as much as possible , which is a really good first step . They are working with the different state surveys to fill that knowledge gap .
“ But the biggest problem with reprocessing historical tailings in Australia is liability ownership . Resources are regulated at state level and different states have different solutions in place .
“ In most cases , if a company wants to buy an historical site the state says , ‘ you touch it , you own it ’, with respect to the liabilities for preexisting . In Tasmania , this has been managed on a site-by-site basis . If the state sees a significant benefit to re-opening an old mine , they can work with the company to waive historical liabilities , but any new disturbance is owned by the new company .
“ In Queensland there is a proposal for a new style of tenure for mine waste reprocessing . However , it is still a proposal .
“ There is an increasing appetite for reprocessed and recycled minerals and metals for the energy transition . We have a strong regulatory framework for mining in Australia but at the moment we ’ re not keeping pace on mine waste reprocessing .”
Degeling also sees fast-paced technology-led innovation in the waste valorisation space as being critical to its rapid evolution .
“ We ’ re now looking to process things that 50 years ago we didn ’ t care about ,” she said . “ And if certain minerals [ in waste ] were that easy to get out in the first place maybe they wouldn ’ t be in the tailings now . For some of them we can use current [ recovery ] methods and for some it ’ s a tweak to a traditional method . But for others it ' s just something completely new .
“ And then there is the real push for sustainability . Not only in cleaning up mine waste but in whatever operational scenario we have to be water efficient , have a low carbon footprint , and the residues created need to be benign to the environment .”
Degeling sees the elevated Mining , Metals and the Circular Economy platform at an industry event with IMARC ’ s international standing as being important .
“ It ’ s not just a conversation that ’ s up in the clouds . No , here ’ s an example of this company or that company on the ground demonstrating sustainability metrics with a technology or a business model . It ’ s those live and lived examples that are hopefully going to change the industry ’ s ESG credentials .”
* This piece was written by Richard Roberts , Editorial Director , Beacon Events
SEPTEMBER 2024 | International Mining 115