TAILINGS MANAGEMENT
SEPTEMBER 2017 • E&MJ; 53 www.e-mj.com
The challenge was to give the TSF the re-
quired strength that is needed when the
higher cake moisture tailings are depos-
ited. The solution was to use waste rock
to add the needed strength. The mixing
or co-mingling the filter cake with coarse
materials on a continuous basis, gave
birth to the EcoTails program.
If the program works as expected,
mines may be able to lower the TSF
footprint by 50%, which would signifi-
cantly reduce environmental liabilities
(i.e., faster permitting and reclamation).
It would also decrease the mine's de-
pendence on an external water supply
through better water management tech-
niques. The coarse waste rock particles
provide better physical stability for the
TSF, greatly reducing the threat of cat-
astrophic failure. Long term, a lower
pile permeability would ideally eliminate
groundwater contamination and acid
rock drainage (ARD).
Seeing the Need for a
Step Change
For many years, FLSmidth has been de-
veloping machines to support tailings
solutions, such as paste thickeners, belt
presses, vacuum filters and filter presses.
"In 2014, we decided to build a really
large filter press — Colossal automatic fil-
ter press, that is currently being installed
in South America," said Todd Wisdom, di-
rector of tailings for FLSmidth. "That was
a major achievement in the evolution of
filter presses."
At about the same time, Wisdom re-
called a conversation with a mining ex-
Scan for more information
The Colossal automatic fi lter press can discharge 20,000 mt/d of fi lter cake and recover 600 m
3
/h of process water.