Toxic mine tailings and industrial waste are associated with negative environmental, social and governance (ESG) impacts. These are costly to manage and carry legacy liabilities and risks, deterring investors. Mining companies and their engineering and scientific teams must find a balance between ESG requirements and financially sustainable operations.
Addressing source issues, not just symptoms, helps project teams understand core triggers causing negative ESG outcomes and devise solutions that eliminate or contain them sustainably. This reduces legacy risk challenges, which can be converted into financial metrics. Understanding these metrics benefits waste producers and boosts investor confidence.
Two key elements drive the negative ESG legacy of mine tailings waste: toxins or heavy metals in the waste stream and the liquid content that enables leaching. Where these exist as wet slurries, this carries inherent risks, including liquification that may result in dam failures.
GreenTailings 1.0, a term coined by the author, is a chemical solution for a chemical problem. It is a proven technology, scrutinized for nearly a decade, merged with geotechnical design criteria, principles and feasible tailings handling procedures. A scalable mechanical plant treats incoming slurry streams via a rapid chemical process, removing water and encapsulating individual tailings particles. The treated waste stream is now dry and inert. Before and after treatment, an audit process measures hazardous/toxicity levels aligned to engineered outcomes.
This approach reduces environmental and social impacts, which in turn reduces or removes current and legacy risks. SRK can offer a novel, yet practical, tailings handling alternative by designing and commissioning the treatment process with its technology partner, then managing the tailings placement process with the client and contractor. Governance is handled via a client/consultant agreement, using Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) and/or client standards as the basis.
GreenTailings 2.0 is a secondary value-add process — but that’s a story for another day!
Contact the author in the SRK Johannesburg office.
