Exploring the economic potential of an electrochemical alternative to managing acid mine tailings

Today, potentially acid generating tailings are concentrated, and the risk of oxidation is reduced by either covering them with water or with a capillary barrier. Any effluent seeping through the containment area over the coming few hundred years is treated using a number of different methods. However, none of these methods propose a means to treat potentially acid generating tailings as a "run-of-plant" stream.In this work, we will venture to explore the economic potential of a "run-of-plant" electrochemical technology alternative that can both neutralise acid tailings effluent as well as contribute to concentrating the remaining heavy metal salts. This will be accomplished by conceptualizing the electrochemical process, defining a stochiometric model around it and tying the results to current commodity prices. The presentation will close with a discussion of the limitations of the model as well as possible impact on future mineral process operations.