April 5, 2024 -- Clean TeQ Water is pleased to be featured with Future Element in International Mining’s March Spotlight Feature Article on our new approaches to tailings dewatering and valorisation.
An except of the article is below. The full article can be viewed in the International Mining Magazine here.
Clean TeQ Water recently established a partnership with mine tailings management company Future Element Pty Ltd. Future Element for its part recently joined Unearthed’s Think and Act Differently (TAD) program, which is powered by BHP and allows innovators to engage in short experiments designed to de-risk ideas and fast-track technological breakthroughs. Future Element has joined the Essentials Minerals Cohort and will receive funding, mentoring, access to subject experts, and samples needed to undertake the testing.
At a glance
- Company
- Clean TeQ Water
- Announcement
- Partnership
Key figures
- Test program duration
- three-month
People
- Brent SlatteryFuture Element COO
- John CarrManaging Director and CEO
- Pat WaltaDirector
Products and programs
Future Element, together with Clean TeQ Water, will be participating in a three-month program of testwork to prepare conceptual flowsheets, which can be applied to BHP’s existing and future operations, for tailings dewatering based on the ATA® technology. The testwork aims to rapidly dewater slurries to produce dry stack tailings while making the critical minerals contained immediately available for recovery. The successful completion of the three-month program would lead to on-site piloting and eventual commercial-scale demonstrations.
IM caught up with Brent Slattery, Future Element COO, for more insight: “Our mission at Future Element is to create a world without tailings dams; and help mining companies can deliver metals and minerals in a more sustainable way. There is a duality that comes with tailings in that they are expensive liabilities that often represent unacceptable levels of risk but also contain valuable minerals and water. We partner with mining companies to economically rehabilitate their tailings to unlock the value that’s stored inside, clean the water and restore the land. The relationship with CleanTeQ came about due to two Future Element partners – MD and CEO John Carr and Director Pat Walta – previously having worked there and therefore have good familiarity with its technologies. We really felt that some of those technologies can help unlock the value stored in tailings.”
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In brief
Clean TeQ Water and Future Element were featured in International Mining’s March spotlight on approaches to mine-tailings dewatering and recovery. The companies are working together on a three-month testing program using Clean TeQ Water’s ATA® technology. The work is intended to develop conceptual process designs for dewatering tailings, producing dry-stack material and making contained minerals available for recovery. Future Element joined Unearthed’s Think and Act Differently program and, according to the release, will receive funding, mentoring, expert access and samples for testing. The release says successful completion of the testwork could lead to on-site piloting and later commercial-scale demonstrations. Future Element COO Brent Slattery described the partnership as a way to explore recovering value from tailings while addressing water and land impacts.
Key takeaways
- Clean TeQ Water and Future Element are conducting a three-month tailings dewatering test program.
- The testwork will use ATA® technology to develop conceptual process designs for tailings treatment.
- Future Element joined Unearthed’s Think and Act Differently program and will receive testing support.
- Successful testwork could lead to on-site piloting and commercial-scale demonstrations.
