Advancements In Mineral Extraction
With new technology available to extract resources from their compounds, deposits that were previously destined for waste landfill as they were low-grade are now considered valuable.
Implementation
In our nickel mine advancements in high pressure acid leaching have resulted in a situation that where previously grades of nickel below a certain percentage were considered too low to be useful, they are now valuable again. This involves separating the precious element particles from an acidic solution in a complex extraction process. The same principle is utilized within our gold mining production plant, where previous concentrations of gold were considered non-viable and destined for landfill are now precious commodities through an updated carbon in-pulp extraction technique that is inexpensive and highly effective. This is done through applying cyanide to the compound and straining the leftover carbon particles leaving behind the lighter gold particles to profit with.
Since this adoption of new technology and the subsequent application of innovative process EMM Resources are yielding higher production rates than ever before and waste has never been lower.
Monitoring
It is important that our production outputs are monitored against the amount of waste produced from the processes. A major way in which this will be monitored is through constant recording of output per tonne of input and recorded waste asssociated with this. EMM Resources will be making this information fully available to the National Pollutant Inventory (npi.gov.au). Though not compulsory, EMM Resources takes great pride in its transparency as it works towards becoming a full sustainable company.
RESOURCES USED IN THIS SECTION:
Bell, S., & Morse, S. (2012). Measuring sustainability: learning from doing. Routledge
Brewer, D. T., Morello, E. B., Griffiths, S., Fry, G., Heales, D., Apte, S. C., ... & Richardson, A. J. (2012). Impacts of gold mine waste disposal on a tropical pelagic ecosystem. Marine pollution bulletin.
Clark, S., & Edwards, A. J. (1994). Use of artificial reef structures to rehabilitate reef flats degraded by coral mining in the Maldives.
Bulletin of Marine science, 55(2-3), 2-3.
Fan, X., et al (2013). Factors Research on the Influence of Leaching Rate of Nickel and Cobalt from Waste Superalloys with Sulfuric Acid.
Lihir. (n.d.). Newcrest. Retrieved May 22, 2013, from www.newcrest.com.au/media/our_business/Newcrest_FS_Lihir_FINAL_27_July_2012_low_res_(2).pdf
Mudd, G. M. (2007) Sustainability and Mine Waste Management–A Snapshot of Mining Waste Issues.
Mining Waste. (n.d.). Alcoa. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from www.alcoa.com/australia/en/info_page/mining_waste_man.asp
Reporting emissions and transfers - National Pollutant Inventory. (n.d.).National Pollutant Inventory home page. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://www.npi.gov.au/reporting/
UG-Mat Mineral Processing Wastes | Recycled Materials Resource Center. (n.d.). Recycled Materials Resource Center | Focusing on Research & Outreach. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://rmrc.wisc.edu/mineral-processing-wastes/
In our nickel mine advancements in high pressure acid leaching have resulted in a situation that where previously grades of nickel below a certain percentage were considered too low to be useful, they are now valuable again. This involves separating the precious element particles from an acidic solution in a complex extraction process. The same principle is utilized within our gold mining production plant, where previous concentrations of gold were considered non-viable and destined for landfill are now precious commodities through an updated carbon in-pulp extraction technique that is inexpensive and highly effective. This is done through applying cyanide to the compound and straining the leftover carbon particles leaving behind the lighter gold particles to profit with.
Since this adoption of new technology and the subsequent application of innovative process EMM Resources are yielding higher production rates than ever before and waste has never been lower.
Monitoring
It is important that our production outputs are monitored against the amount of waste produced from the processes. A major way in which this will be monitored is through constant recording of output per tonne of input and recorded waste asssociated with this. EMM Resources will be making this information fully available to the National Pollutant Inventory (npi.gov.au). Though not compulsory, EMM Resources takes great pride in its transparency as it works towards becoming a full sustainable company.
RESOURCES USED IN THIS SECTION:
Bell, S., & Morse, S. (2012). Measuring sustainability: learning from doing. Routledge
Brewer, D. T., Morello, E. B., Griffiths, S., Fry, G., Heales, D., Apte, S. C., ... & Richardson, A. J. (2012). Impacts of gold mine waste disposal on a tropical pelagic ecosystem. Marine pollution bulletin.
Clark, S., & Edwards, A. J. (1994). Use of artificial reef structures to rehabilitate reef flats degraded by coral mining in the Maldives.
Bulletin of Marine science, 55(2-3), 2-3.
Fan, X., et al (2013). Factors Research on the Influence of Leaching Rate of Nickel and Cobalt from Waste Superalloys with Sulfuric Acid.
Lihir. (n.d.). Newcrest. Retrieved May 22, 2013, from www.newcrest.com.au/media/our_business/Newcrest_FS_Lihir_FINAL_27_July_2012_low_res_(2).pdf
Mudd, G. M. (2007) Sustainability and Mine Waste Management–A Snapshot of Mining Waste Issues.
Mining Waste. (n.d.). Alcoa. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from www.alcoa.com/australia/en/info_page/mining_waste_man.asp
Reporting emissions and transfers - National Pollutant Inventory. (n.d.).National Pollutant Inventory home page. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://www.npi.gov.au/reporting/
UG-Mat Mineral Processing Wastes | Recycled Materials Resource Center. (n.d.). Recycled Materials Resource Center | Focusing on Research & Outreach. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://rmrc.wisc.edu/mineral-processing-wastes/