The relevance of water recirculation in large scale mineral processing plants with a remote water supply

Chemometric Optimisation of a Copper Sulphide Tailings Flocculation Process in the Presence of Clays

“…Water is a scarce commodity for many mining companies, in particular in countries such as Chile, Australia and South Africa, where it is essential to minimise water consumption for massive large-scale operations placed in arid regions [1][2][3]. The challenge of reducing makeup water volumes in concentrator plants is bonded to the requirement of producing and handling high solid concentrations for their tailings storage facilities [4].…”

“…Such minerals include quartz and andesite as coarse fractions and kaolinite, illite, muscovite and/or chlorite (e.g., References [16,17]) as finer ones. The liquid phase of those tailings is mixed with flocculants and flotation reagents, whereas it is increasingly common that, instead of freshwater, seawater or brackish water are used [2].…”

Sustainability in the Minerals Industry: Seeking a Consensus on Its Meaning

“…Given the potential increase in capital and operating costs associated to better waste management, the development of a mine should not be justified in mineral deposits that are not profitable enough or when the area has particularly fragile environment [79]. On the other hand, under certain circumstances such as the Chilean context, disposal of mining tailings at higher solids concentrations is not necessarily more operationally expensive than conventional technologies, and may even bring additional benefits in terms of water recovery [89]. Recently, a new hierarchy has been suggested [90] for an efficient and proactive management of waste rock and tailings.…”

“…The first is due to depletion, while the second is associated to increase in turbidity, conductivity, contamination by ions, elements and chemical compounds associated to the processed ores and reagents used in the process [3]. The demand for water can be very large during the lifetime of a mine, especially in mineral processing [89], as well as in dust control, depending on several factors such as: climate conditions, mineralogy and ore grade, scale of operation and proportion of water recovered in product(s) and tailings [92]. Efficient water management strategies aimed to minimize its local demand through technologies that allow reducing or even eliminating its consumption and further treatment, as well as maximizing its recovery and reuse [45] are, therefore, an important future challenge for the minerals industry, especially in fragile areas where there are shortage and competition for this vital resource.…”

“…Efficient water management strategies aimed to minimize its local demand through technologies that allow reducing or even eliminating its consumption and further treatment, as well as maximizing its recovery and reuse [45] are, therefore, an important future challenge for the minerals industry, especially in fragile areas where there are shortage and competition for this vital resource. In that context, the integrated optimization of both water and energy has become particularly relevant and is only recently being addressed, for example, in cases such as the need to use seawater from remote sources in mining operations developed in arid zones of Chile [89]. In respect to the water quality, one of the most important impacts is the Acid Mine Drainage (AMD), which is caused by the oxidation of sulfide minerals contained in rocks and tailings exposed to the contact with water.…”