The cross-disciplinary team of Metso and University of Cape Town (UCT) took first place in the Mining Innovation and Reasearch Battlefield competition held in Cape Town, South Africa, from February 3-6, 2025.
Participants were challenged to present innovative and sustainable solutions for revolutionizing tailings management and achieving zero harm, while supporting a more responsible and circular mining economy. The Metso and UCT team's pioneering approach to sustainable tailings management propelled them to first place in the competition. The team was awarded a $25,000 research grant for their success.
"The winning approach of the Metso and UCT team focused on decoupling water and tailings and enabling distributed, mineral-specific water circuits," said Eija Saari, senior manager, ECO-system of Metso. "The concept is based on years of research at a medium-sized concentrator and focuses on the fundamental principles of electrochemistry of sulfide flotation and on understanding the interactions between sulfur minerals and process water."
"The results indicate that immediate decoupling of tailings and water allows for the preservation of recycled water quality," Eija added. "Separate water circuits enable additional revenues and improve profitability by tailoring the water matrix of each flotation circuit to the mineral-specific surface chemistry requirements. Decoupling tailings and water also allow for the implementation of any tailings treatment process without affecting the operation of the main process itself. Consequently, the innovation proposes a paradigm shift in how to move towards a more resilient mineral resource conversion."
Metso's team consisted of Diana Kasymova, academic researcher; Eija Saari, senior manager; and Kari Heiskanen, technology director, professor. The UCT team consisted of Lisa October, senior lecturer; Rešoketšwe Manenzhe, post-doctoral researcher; and Kirsten Corin, professor.
Mining Innovation and Research Battlefield is a competitive event held as part of the annual mining conference Mining Indaba. The competition brings together innovative thinkers from the mining industry, academia, NGOs and young leaders to present solutions to sustainability challenges in the mining sector.
