OZ Minerals, Boliden, and Rio Tinto will work together to develop new and innovative tailings management technologies, allowing the mining sector to reduce risk while collecting the minerals needed for the energy transition from what was traditionally classified as “waste.”
OZ Minerals, Boliden, and Rio Tinto will fund and support entrepreneurs striving to reinvent mining and processing to eliminate, minimise, reuse, or find value in mine tailings through the Think & Act Differently (TAD) incubator program. The three organisations will also work together on additional selected ideas to boost productivity while providing benefits such as lower emissions and waste reduction.
Michelle Ash, OZ Minerals’ Technology Executive, said, “We can accelerate technology much faster by working together and this is an example of how the industry can collaborate to support technology development. We hope this way of working and supporting innovators provides a model that can be replicated because accelerated technology development is likely to have a positive impact on our industry and society.”
Boliden Mines’ Sustainability Director Joana Lindahl stated that Boliden would be able to achieve faster and more resource-efficient progress by collaborating on generic mining industry concerns in a pre-competitive scenario. Lindahl added that it is also an excellent opportunity for the TAD incubator’s inventors and startup enterprises to gain insights and business understanding from various mining industries. Lindahl expressed the company’s excitement about this relationship, noting the company wants to develop additional ways to strengthen the sector in the future.
Mark Davies, Chief Technical Officer for Rio Tinto, added, “It isn’t very often that competitors come together to collaborate on industry-critical work. One such area historically has been Health, Safety & Environment, where we learned that sharing leading practices boosts our collective performance. We think collaborating on tailings management capability improvement could have a similar, industry-wide impact. We’re excited to be partnering with Boliden and OZ Minerals through the TAD program.”
The partnership will provide resources, cash, technical supervision, and the possibility of field trials at mine operations to innovators. Innovators will maintain ownership of their intellectual property rights, with corporations awarded licences to use them.
Around the world, Rio Tinto said the mining and processing industries have many long-term tailings projects. Tailings are byproducts of mining, refining, smelting, and water treatment processes.
The Think & Act Differently program, led by OZ Minerals, aims to create an ecosystem of partners that will investigate and advance themes that prioritise social and environmental responsibility in constructing modern mines. The active participation of a network of people from many sectors, organisations, community groups, governments, research organisations, and others who desire to play a role in solving complex challenges is critical to its success.
