Our HDS technology: changing the conversation on tailings management

“We are excited about the potential for this new approach to tailings management and believe it can make a difference in the mining industry.  We are keen to identify partners to further develop and perfect the system, within a licensing framework that drives cooperative innovation and sharing of technical information and experience,” says  Phil Newman, Lead Innovation, Technology Development.

To drive awareness about this innovation, build external relationships and gauge reactions, the team, led by Phil Newman, participated in a number of events in Chile.  Here they shared information about the technology with other mining companies, academics and specialists from the mining industry, and also looked for potential partners to help drive this innovation further.

Representatives from several mining companies visited the HDS site and witnessed first-hand the 150,000m³ pilot that is currently in operation at El Soldado. There was lots of interest to learn more about the technology.

The team also had the chance to continue the conversation at the ICMM Innovation Session related to Tailings Reduction Strategy. Tabatha Chavez Matus, ICMM’s tailings lead, says: “By utilising a waste stream as a by-product, Anglo American’s HDS innovation has demonstrated the potential to create safer tailings disposal, recover water and even expedite land recovery. This technology solution will be valuable in helping to accelerate the industry’s progress in addressing the challenge of tailings management”. At the “Tailings 2023” Conference, held in Santiago, the team presented the technology via a keynote presentation at one of the plenary sessions.

Anglo American is proposing a collaborative approach under licence to deliver a rapid roll-out across the industry. Delivering on safety, water loss reduction and rapid closure and re-purposing of land, HDS is changing the conversation on tailings management from one of risk mitigation to one of opportunity.

During the conference, Phil Newman highlighted that the team is comfortable with the science, and the results support the hypothesis of what we are trying to achieve. The next step for the project, he explained, “is to engineer a safe, viable and robust operational plan to deliver the engineered co-disposal approach at a production scale.”

The value here is not just measured in dollars and cents, but relates to water, biodiversity, socio-economic impact and above all else, safety and well-being. “We are working with a number of contractors to develop robust operational solutions and remain open to working with new partners. This will become the focus over the next months and years and will need to be overcome for this promising technology to fulfil its potential,” Phil Newman added. 

Click here to find about more about the technology.