Circular Mine is taking a holistic approach to Australia’s mine waste management challenges.
Waste management may be an inevitable final step in the mining chain, but it doesn’t have to be an afterthought.
With so many of Australia’s mines hungry for greener practices, there are those who believe mine waste is the key to positioning the mining industry at the centre of a circular economy.
Circular Mine, an Australian company made up of a consortium of international businesses, is one such believer, with a mission to reduce mine waste to zero.
With the collaboration boasting an extensive team of engineers, technicians, researchers and laboratory facilities with experience in water, tailings and recycling, the company first got its start in the 2020 BHP tailings challenge when it beat out 170 companies to become one of nine successful businesses to launch into the mining sector.
Circular Mine managing director Michael Ingwersen said the company has been working hard to make the most out of the resources miners unearth in Australia and across the globe.
“Circular Mine is all about environmental, social and governance (ESG) responsibility to eliminate mine waste and make the most out of the resources we mine,” Ingwersen told Australian Mining.
“We view mine waste such as tailings as a resource for other industries that can transform mine waste into sustainable resources such as clean soil, construction and industrial materials.
“We have global partners in a range of industries, including research and development institutions and organisations such as Amira Global who focus on improving the efficiency, productivity, and sustainability of mining operations by linking the industry with solution providers.”
Amira Global is an independent global not-for-profit organisation representing members from the resources industry that seeks to enhance, sustain and deliver transformational research and development across the mining value chain.
Circular Mine and Amira Global, together with mining and technology companies, are now aiming to lead the charge through the Amira P1342 project – dedicated to fast-tracking the full re-use of mine tailings and refinery residue on a commercial scale.
The project scope includes the development of a support tool for miners to make sustainable mine waste decisions, as well as a repository of practical guidelines that can be applied to any mining operation.
The aim is to address the technical, collaborative, environmental, regulatory, community and legislative aspects of the mine waste management process.
Circular Mine recently explored this approach at one Australian mine where it discovered that, once decontaminated, approximately 40 per cent of the mine’s tailings could be used as a geopolymer construction material, with the rest able to be used as a topsoil dressing product.
Ingwersen said these kinds of findings have huge potential for the industry and the environment, as geopolymer construction materials take 70 per cent less carbon emissions to make than traditional construction materials.
“The question we ask ourselves is, ‘How do we make the most out of resources?’,” he said. “They’ve already been mined, they’ve been processed, now we want to turn what’s left into products that can benefit mankind.”
For mine waste that isn’t able to be re-purposed into a new product, Circular Mine can still help operators take a greener approach.
“While our mission is to re-use 100 per cent of mine waste, there are significant opportunities for carbon capture where offsite repurposing potential is limited,” Ingwersen said.
“On a recent project at a mine site, we were able to demonstrate at lab scale that we could capture 13 kilograms of CO2 from a tonne of mine waste, which is a significant amount of carbon.”
While many mine waste management approaches look at extracting certain re-sellable minerals from the rest, Ingwersen said Circular Mine differentiates itself by looking at the bigger picture.
“It’s important to look broadly and bring together different solutions from different industries to find innovative uses for mine waste, and focus on the bulk, not just the one-percenters,” he said.
“It’s a collaborative approach between Circular Mine, our global partners, organisations like Amira Global and Austmine and the mines themselves that will help us eliminate waste.
“Together, we are making zero mine waste a reality.”
This feature appeared in the November 2024 issue of Australian Mining.
