PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Majors BHP and Rio Tinto will collaborate on new tailing technologies, with the miners inviting expressions of interest from technology providers, equipment manufacturers, reagent suppliers, startups and research groups across the globe.
The search for new partners comes as the two companies have now entered into a new agreement to extend their collaboration beyond the previously announced trial of a large-volume tailings filter unit at a BHP copper mine in Chile, which has the potential to remove up to 80% of the water in the tailings stream before it is deposited in a storage facility.
The miners aim to jointly identify a portfolio of tailings management partners with whom to accelerate the development of technologies that could increase water recovery and reduce potential safety risks and environmental footprints associated with tailings storage facilities.
“There are so many innovative thinkers out there and we want to bring them in as partners to help us improve in this critical area for safety and sustainability of our operations,” BHP head of sustainability innovation Ingrid Oyarzun said.
Tailings management includes tailings dewatering and transport technologies, chemical amendment, and dust mitigation. Ideas and technologies considered may be market-ready for mining, involve technologies previously applied in other industries, or may be original ideas at earliest stages of research and development.