Metso Outotec's new management solution helps with sustainable operation of tailing plants

Metso Outotec is introducing its Tailings Management Solutions offering for the sustainable management of mine tailings. The offering combines the company's products with its process experience and covers tailings thickening and dewatering as well as handling through conveying and dry stacking. In addition, Metso Outotec offers a portfolio of solutions for the treatment of water produced during dewatering, enabling closed water loops while managing the level of impurities within the recycled water.

"The rising demand for sustainably mined materials and stricter environmental legislation are pushing the need for more advanced technology for safe processing and storing of the tailings. Water resource efficiency is also becoming more and more important. These factors, combined with the need to capture the full value of ore, for example, by reprocessing the tailings to extract the remaining valuable minerals, lead to a continuously increasing need for sophisticated tailings management solutions," explains Dr. Piia Suvio, director of tailings and water at Metso Outotec.

Full scope of solutions for optimal results

Metso Outotec has been involved in the development of tailings management solutions and equipment for over 50 years. Currently, a lot of effort is put on the design stage, which includes test work and studies supported by process simulations carried out with the recently launched Metso Outotec Geminex digital twin, allowing accurate plant design and sizing.

Metso Outotec's Tailings Management Solutions consist of a wide range of planet positive equipment and feature performance and capacity guarantees:

• Thickening plant units are based on Metso Outotec IPS, HRT, HCT, and PT technologies. The Reactorwell feed system and Vane Feedwell provide enhanced mixing, dilution, and retention of the feed, maximizing flocculant adsorption and aggregate growth. The advanced Metso Outotec control systems, such as the thickener optimizer, help improve the overall performance of the thickening plant unit.
• Filtration plant units are based on proven FFP or FP-S filtration technology. The Metso Outotec filtration plant unit is designed for high-volume tailings processing, leading to savings in operational and maintenance costs.
• Metso Outotec process water recycling plants enable the recovery and reuse of water within the production process with ideal metal recovery within the flotation circuit.

Metso Outotec supports its tailings management portfolio with a full range of parts, inspections, process optimization, and life cycle services.