Circular economy drive throws new light on mine waste

Circular economy specialist Coreo is advancing a raft of State-funded projects that are taking a 'big picture' view of making good use of mining site waste. This includes extracting maximum value from coal tailings, finding ways to recycle general materials left by day-to-day mining operations, and the potential to draw value from used tungsten carbide drill bits. Coreo circular specialist Cameron Kaufman (pictured left) said the work came on the back of an initiative the group completed with BMA and the Resources Centre of Excellence. "Essentially we conducted a material flow analysis of a BMA metallurgical site and then conducted a similar material flow analysis of Queensland," she said. "So the idea was, is there anything that's coming out of a mine site that can displace any materials that are harmful that are being imported into Queensland? And then, vice versa, is there anything coming out at a regional level that could go into a mine site and displace some of the harmful stuff that they're currently procuring or have risks in security of supply for, like topsoil? Right now the mines are struggling to find enough topsoil for rehabilitation. "That project led to a long list of 44 opportunities that were prioritised and presented to various investors." The State Government was backing three projects to the tune of more than $1 million, she said. One of those projects is looking at full value realisation from coal tailings. Ms Kaufman said that for an individual operator, the measures required to extract the very small per centages of things like rare earth elements contained in coal tailings did not stack up financially, and they would still be left with a large volume of waste material. "So we want to look at a multi-pronged value approach from coal tailings, as in get the rare earth elements out, but then what else can you do with what's left? "Can we actually use it as a soil amendment for carbon sequestration in cattle grazing? Can we look at possibilities for an input into the construction sector and make an ore-sand that goes into road base or as a replacement for cement in concrete production?" Ms Kaufman said that Coreo had been talking to groups including mine operators who had characterisation data from tailings samplings, universities with research in the field, and mineral recovery specialist Cobalt Blue. Another project is targeting the critical mineral tungsten, by looking at the tungsten carbide drillbits being used at mine sites. This was not only about the potential to recycle that in-demand material but also looking at where it was best directed, she said. The third project focused on the potential for a resource recovery facility to make of most of the materials flowing out of mines as waste, Ms Kaufman said. This includes everything from tyres and diesel particulate filters to cardboard and plastic pallets. "When an individual operator looks at managing (these waste streams) in a more circular way, it doesn't add up because there isn't enough volume and factors like that," she said. "So this is about strategically placing a facility that can aggregate those volumes of a suite of materials, which are still to be determined, and actually create jobs locally either repairing or reprocessing those materials and ensuring they're actually going back into the local economy." She said while some of the allotted funding would go to Coreo and the Resources Centre of Excellence for project management, it would also be spent with third parties for items such as tailings sampling or drill bit testing, for example. "I'd say that the overarching vision for this work is to start to figure out how to do things a bit differently," Ms Kaufman said. People interested in finding out more or becoming involved in the projects should contact Ms Kaufman at hello@coreo.com.au

Circular economy drive throws new light on mine waste

Industry Queensland

Related News

Quick fire – industry news briefs

Board takes the blame for Callide turmoil

Production hurdles hit South32 Cannington

Get access to breaking mining news, now.