Mine dump biofuel pilot project achieves early success, holds much potential
Local green technology company G-Tech has recorded early success in its attempt to grow biofuel and other bioenergy feedstock to produce bioethanol and biodiesel as part of a mine dump rehabilitation pilot project in Randfontein, west of Johannesburg.
The pilot project, on one of the gold dumps in the area, was conducted on only 0.5 ha of land to establish the viability of the concept.
G-Tech rehabilitates wasteland by restoring indigenous biomes and biodiversity by ‘planting’ polylactic acid (PLA) – a biodegradable thermoplastic polymer that stimulates the growth of uprooted plants on any type of surface.
The company planted sorghum and soya bean feedstocks in December 2015. Mining Weekly visited the site last month and was informed by G-Tech business developer and marketing manager Bonga Masoka that more than 50% of the sorghum planted had grown, despite not using any irrigation other than rainwater.
“This clearly indicates that sorghum is suit- able to be grown on mine dumps with mini- mal water resources required, as there has been very little rain in the area over the past four months,” he stated.
However, Masoka noted that the soya beans had not responded well to the conditions and that the company would reassess how to improve the legume’s chances of surviving in future trials
, in which G-Tech intended to implement rain-harvesting technologies to irrigate the crops, which the company believes will improve the chances of the growth of the sorghum and soya beans and will also reduce the amount of chemicals-bearing water leaching into nearby lakes and wetlands.
The company’s agronomists will soon harvest the crops and test whether the feedstock is suitable for biofuel use.
Masoka explained that, if the company could prove that biofuel feedstocks were able to be grown on mine dumps, it could have multiple benefits, including providing mines with economic and environmental incentives to rehabi- litate their sites; it could also create significant job opportunities in former mining areas for growing biofuel feedstock and processing it.
“The biofuel sector has substantial economic potential; however, one of the major criticisms of the industry is that biofuel has been produced at the expense of agricultural food crops. With growing biofuel feedstocks on mine dumps, you are removing this issue entirely, as the crop will not be suitable for food purposes and can be used only for biofuel.”
He further highlighted that, if biofuel feedstocks could be sustainably produced from mine dumps, this would alleviate the cost burden placed on mining companies to rehabilitate their sites, as the cash generated from biofuels would offset these costs.
“Rehabilitation would, therefore, shift from being seen by mining companies as a grudge transaction to a core focus of their operations,” Masoka contended.
He added that biofuels could even be used by the mines to offset fuel costs for the running of their vehicles and diesel generators.
Material Matters
Japanese industrial products manufacturer Toray Industries manufactures the raw PLA fibre and has been working with G-Tech since 2011.
Toray fibres and textile green innovation GM Kouji Sasaki told Mining Weekly during the site visit that, because the PLA could be readily reabsorbed by the natural environment after use, it was an environment-friendly product that helped to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and conserve fossil resources.
“It also has people-friendly characteristics, including mild acidity. It can truly be referred to as a fibre of the next generation,” he enthused.
G-Tech has established a factory in Soweto, Gauteng, to process the PLA into a roll planter for use on its projects. Factory manager Simon Buti Legodi received training for two months in 2013 on how to operate a PLA knitting machine at Toray’s factory in Japan.
“The training was intense, but once I got the hang of it, it became very easy to operate. The needles have to be correctly positioned and undamaged, otherwise the PLA rolls will break easily and not be usable at all. Therefore, the machine has to be continuously monitored for quality-control purposes,” he explained.
Legodi and a six-person team are also responsible for the ‘planting’ of the roll planter at G-Tech project sites.
“We are immensely proud of the work we are doing and believe that the potential success of these G-Techs pilot projects could make a major difference to the environment and create many job opportunities in the future,” he concluded.
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