OZ MINERALS, BOLIDEN AND RIO TINTO AGREE TO INNOVATE IN SMALLER FOOTPRINT SOLUTIONS FOR MINES
OZ Minerals and Rio Tinto, through Boliden, will establish a collaboration to unlock new and innovative technology for tailings management such as coal, iron. It can help the mining industry further reduce risk as they extract the materials the world needs for the energy transition from what was once considered “waste”.
Through the TAD (Think and act differently) incubator initiative, OZ Minerals, Boliden and Rio Tinto will fund and support innovators who are working to find more effective ways for mining to eliminate, minimize and find value for tailings. The three companies will also collaborate on other selected innovations in pursuit of higher productivity while providing benefits such as lower emissions and reduced waste.
Michelle Ash, OZ Minerals’ technology executive, commented that by working together we can accelerate these types of technologies. “We can accelerate technology much faster by working together and this is an example of how industry can collaborate to support technology development. We hope that this way of working and supporting innovators will provide a model that can be replicated because accelerated technology development is likely to have a positive impact on our industry and society,” he added.
Joanna Lindahl, Director of Sustainability at Boliden Mines, noted that, “By collaborating on shared priorities for the entire heavy industry in a non-competitive environment, we will be able to establish ourselves faster and be more efficient in our use of resources. For inventors and start-ups within the TAD program, we also offer them an excellent opportunity to gain business insight and information from several different mining companies. We look forward to this collaboration and hope to find new opportunities to strengthen the industry in the future.”
The mining technical director stated that “it is not very common for competing companies to come together to collaborate on critical issues within the business. One such sector historically has been Health, Safety and Environment where we learned that sharing leading practices enhances our collective performance. We believe that collaborating on improving tailings management capability could have the same impact across the industry. We are excited to partner with Boliden and OZ Minerals through the TAD program.”
The collaboration will support innovators by providing materials, funding, technical guidance and the potential for field testing in mining operations. Innovators will retain ownership of their intellectual property rights with a license to use those rights granted to the companies that support them. The mining and processing industry has many long-term tailings projects around the world. Wastes are created from processes such as mining, refining, smelting and water treatment.
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