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Tailings & waste · Vision

Value out. Inert residue in.

Our vision: take the old tailings and process wastes that mining leaves behind, run them through gravity circuits, recover as much of the value as gravity can reach, and leave a residue that is as inert and stable as possible — dewatered, stackable, with the water recycled.

01 · Vision

What we want to do with every dump

Four kinds of dump we want to put through a gravity circuit — targets and test-work subjects, not finished projects. The test work decides how much comes out and how clean the residue gets.

Talk to an engineer about a dump
  • 01Target

    Lead-zinc tailings

    Galena answers to gravity (CC 3.9); lead is recovered on tables and jigs. Zinc recovery by gravity is limited — the test work says how much.

  • 02Target

    Ferrochrome slag & wastes

    Entrained ferrochrome metal is dense and coarse — jigs and tables take it back out of the slag.

  • 03Tested at Bursa

    Chromite plant wastes

    Tested on the shaking tables at Bursa: chromite still recoverable from old plant rejects.

  • 04Tested at Bursa

    Pyrite dumps

    Pyrite on the shaking table is a Bursa test-work programme; gold locked in pyrite is the Kazakhstan plant.

Riffled shaking-table deck during a gravity test: slurry flows across the deck and a band of dense mineral separates from the lighter gangue
Gravity test on a shaking table, Bursa

02 · Flow

From dump to inert residue

One line, two outputs. The dump is reclaimed, scrubbed, screened and classified; the tables and jigs take out what gravity can reach. Value leaves as concentrate or recovered metal, the residue leaves as a dewatered, stackable cake, and the water goes back to the front of the line.

  1. Reclaim — the dump is dug and fed to the plant.
  2. Scrub and screen — clay is broken up; oversize and trash are removed.
  3. Classify — the feed is split by size and density into even streams.
  4. Gravity — shaking tables and jigs separate the dense minerals.
  5. Concentrate or recovered metal — the value stream leaves the plant.
  6. Residue — thickened, filtered and stacked as a dewatered cake.
  7. Water back — thickener overflow and filtrate return to the scrubber and the classifier.
Dump to inert residue — reclaim → scrub & screen → classify → gravity; value out as concentrate or metal, residue out as a stackable cake, water back to the scrubber and the classifier.
  • Process
  • Value stream
  • Residue
  • Water back

03 · Water

Closed loop by design

Process → thicken → filter → return. The loop is the same in a new plant and in a reprocessing plant: thickeners and filters sit in the base flowsheet, make-up water covers losses only, and the residue leaves drier.

Closed water loop: Process → Thicken → Filter → Return Process water is thickened, filtered and returned to the process. Make-up water covers losses only; the residue leaves the filter drier. Make-up water = losses only Drier residue stackable cake Process water Closed loop by design new plant or reprocessing plant 01 Process scrubber · tables 02 Thicken clarified water 03 Filter filtrate returned 04 Return back to the front
Closed water loop — process → thicken → filter → return; make-up covers losses only

The scrubber, the classifier and the tables draw process water — everything downstream of them exists to bring it back.

01 Process
The scrubber, the classifier and the tables draw process water — everything downstream of them exists to bring it back.
02 Thicken
Thickeners return the bulk of the process water as clarified overflow before anything reaches a filter.
03 Filter
Filters recover the filtrate and leave the residue as a drier, stackable cake — less water held on site.
04 Return
Clarified water goes back to the front of the plant. Make-up water covers losses only.

Six duties in the base flowsheet

  • Thickening01
  • Filtration02
  • Clarification03
  • Water return04
  • Drier tailings05
  • Minimal make-up06

The mass and water balances are issued with the design, so the footprint is a number before it is a pond. Lamella thickeners, filter presses and dewatering screens are on the equipment register.

04 · Levers

Why gravity is the lower-footprint route

Six levers, all pulled at the flowsheet, and the same for a new plant and for a dump: no reagents, no finer grind than the ore needs, the water kept in the loop, the residue stacked rather than ponded.

  • Gravity first — no reagents

    Density does the separating. Nothing is added to the slurry, so nothing has to be dosed, neutralised or kept out of the residue.

  • Grind only to liberation

    The grind stops at the size the shaking-table tests set. Finer costs power, and a finer residue is harder to dewater and stack.

  • Closed water loop

    Thickener overflow and filtrate go back to the scrubber and the classifier; make-up water covers losses only.

  • Dewatered, stackable residue

    The residue leaves the filter as a cake that can be stacked — no new pond where the site allows it.

  • Recover value from old dumps

    Lead, chromite and ferrochrome metal still sitting in old tailings and slag are recovered instead of being left where they are.

  • Metal accounting

    What goes in, what comes out and what stays in the residue is reconciled and reported — recovery is a measured number.

1Frontiers in Energy Research (2025). An industry figure for comminution’s share of mine-site energy — not BENEFSAN plant data.

05 · Commitments

Planet, people, integrity.

Three things we hold ourselves to on every plant and every dump, written into the design package rather than a policy page.

01

Planet

Footprint decided at the flowsheet; mass and water balances issued with the design; no reagents in a gravity circuit.

02

People

Safety engineered in: guarding, walkways, dust and noise control; operator training; straight answers through commissioning and a 12–24 month warranty.

03

Integrity

One responsible party. Sometimes the answer is no. ISO 9001.