Business Chief USA December 2019

DRA GLOBAL
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designs, there are optimisation opportunities.
Instead of sending all the
tailings sand to a filter plant, you may
have a two-stage cyclone plant first.
The coarsest fraction is used for roads
and earthworks, the fine fraction goes
to the existing tailings pond (or co-disposal
piles), and the mid-size material
is filtered. This compromise reduces
tailings pond sizes by two thirds while
also removing most of the fines and
clays that are so difficult to filter.
“Of course, sensor sorting, DMS, and
coarse particle flotation all have a tailings
pond benefit because if you can
“BUILDING AN ECONOMIC
MODEL FOR EVERY
PROJECT TELLS US
WHAT THE OPTIMUM
OPERATING CONDITIONS
ARE GOING TO BE”
—
Brent Hilscher,
Director of Process, Western Canada,
DRA Global
take those worthless rocks and keep
them coarse you are able to put them
in a waste pile or road bed. That’s a
direct reduction to your tailings pond
size. The pond dam won’t need to be
expanded as often, and that tends to
make them much safer,” he adds.
Hilscher believes that in order to
drive innovation, all metrics and
operational concerns need to be
addressed. It’s a weighty issue where
he argues a balance must be struck.
“Metallurgists tend to be worried about
recovery. Geologists are concerned
DECEMBER 2019