Mining tailings: The Brazilian Mining Industry and

Technological Development for the Tailings Recovery

Sandra Lucia de Moraes

Chemical Engineer, Doctor
Advanced Materials Area

December 11th, 2020

 The Mining Industry is a vital sector for the modern society, and has a broad impact on
both economy and population.

Each Brazilian consumes about

5.4 tons of mineral products / yr.

Annual consumption
Product
per inhabitant (kg)
Steel 116
Aluminum 8.3
Copper 1.9
Manganese 1.5
Gold 0.29
Zinc 1.29

70 yr 328 ton 3,000 ton

Other metals 4.0
Fertilizer 27
Sand + gravel 3,700
Cement 320 Consumed
life Generated
Clay 1,220 Mineral
expectancy Mineral tailings
Glass 8.75 products
Plaster 18

Source: Araújo, 2017.

The magnitude of the Brazilian mineral resources is translated into the:

 Production of more than 50 mineral substances

 Reaching US $ 40 billion in 2014, which corresponds to 5% of the
country's industrial GDP.
 In that same year, the sector was responsible for generating 214,000
direct jobs.

 Despite its economic and social relevance, the

mining activity also generates an huge amount of
tailings.
This presentation provides a picture of the Brazilian mineral production chain,
its tailings generation as well as the level of technological development aimed
at the reuse of such tailings.

• the generation of mining tailings in

To quantify Brazil

To discuss
• the actors involved in the mineral strategies for
To identify production chain stimulate the
investment
and
To • the dynamics of the mining sector
understand development
in processes
for tailings
• the technical development level of recovery
To diagnose the reuse of tailings
The mineral industry in Brazil

Brazilian mineral production (does not include oil and gas)

Source: IBRAM [2017]

82.5%
small and micro-sized  Brazilian Mineral Production - 2011, when it reached its
enterprises
maximum value in US $ 53 billion, it was heavily
affected by the depreciation of mineral commodities,
mainly due to the sharp fall in the price of iron ore.
• The amount produced did not change
significantly.
Mining and the generation of waste

One of the characteristics of the mineral industry is the significant volumes of masses of materials
removed and moved from the mined areas. Of the amount extracted from the mines, only a portion
results in the mineral product destined to the intermediary sectors (manufacturing industry) or final
consumption (civil construction).

Considerable volumes of solid materials not economically

harnessed are generated from the mining activity,
constituting in waste, and classified as overburden and
tailings.

The mining tailings result

from the process of
The overburden is excavated
beneficiation to which the ore
without economic value,
is subjected, in which the
individualized in the mining
impurities are removed
process, corresponding to the
(gangue) to increase the quality
layers overlying or
or content of the mineral good,
interspersed with the ore
or when the product is sought
body.
to standardize separation of
crushed rock and sand by size).
Mining and the generation of waste
15 mineral substances
• ~90% of the total gross mass production of
minerals,
• the most important waste generators.
58 %
Source: IPT, from DNPM data
 Nine mineral substances individually, generate more
than 10 million tons of tailings annually: gold, iron,
copper, phosphate, titanium, tin, aluminum, zirconium
and niobium. Together, these substances are
responsible for the generation of 439.6 million tons of
tailings (85.3% of the total).
 The mass ratio between the amount of tailings
generated and the amount of ore extracted is around
35.5%.
4,9 billion tons of tailings
accumulated in the period
(2000-2014)
 Mining and the generation of waste

Data from the Brazilian Register of Mining Dams [DNPM, 2014] were analyzed to contribute to the
understanding of the distribution of tailings storage in the current Brazilian scenario involving mining
tailings dams.

 199 companies were identified responsible for 661 dams.

• 12 mineral substances have more than 10 dams each (92.4%)
• Most of the dams (42.3%) are associated with iron ore
production

• The dams are located in 19 Federative units.

• The highlights are Minas Gerais (48%), São
Paulo (11%) and Pará (10%)
Amount of dams registered in the DNPM by processed mineral substance.
Source: Elaborated by the authors with DNPM data [2014]
Regulation of the sector
LEGISLATION YEAR DESCRIPTION
Creates the National Mining Dams Registry, the Integrated Management System
for the Safety of Mining Dams and establishes the periodicity of execution or
updating, the qualification of the technical managers, the minimum content and
Ordinance DNPM nº 70.389 2017
level of detail of the Dam Safety Plan, the Regular and Special Safety Inspections,
the Periodic Safety Review of the Dam and the Emergency Action Plan for Mining
Dams.
13 articles in the Constitution Ordinance DNPM nº 14 2016
Establishes deadline for presentation of proof of delivery of the physical copies of
44 decrees the Emergency Plan of Mining Dam (PAEBM)

22 laws Decree nº 46.933 2016 Institutes the Extraordinary Technical Audit of Dam Safety
Other recommendations and technical notes It establishes guidelines for conducting the extraordinary safety audit of tailings
Resolution SEMAD/FEAM nº
All related to the environment in the mineral 2372
2016 dams and for the issuance of the corresponding Extraordinary Stability Condition
Statement.
sector.
It establishes the periodicity of updating and revision, the qualification of the
technical responsible, the minimum content and the level of detail of the
Mining tailings related: Ordinance DNPM nº 526 2013
Emergency Action Plan for Mining Dams (PAEBM) (Repealed by Portaria DNPM
Law No. 12,305 ( August 2, 2010) - National Solid nº 70.389)

Waste Policy Resolution CNRH nº 143 2012 Establishes criteria for classification of dams (risk, potential damage and volume)

Law No. 12,334 (September 20, 2010) - National Resolution DNPM nº 144 2012 Guidelines for implementation of the National Dams Safety Policy
Security Policy of Dams. Creates the National Register of Mining Dams and provides for the Safety Plan,
Ordinance DNPM Nº 416 2012 Periodic Safety Review and Regular and Special Safety Inspections for Mining
Dams. (Repealed by Portaria DNPM nº 70.389)

Creates the Interministerial Committee of the National Solid Waste Policy and the
Decree nº 7.404 2010
Steering Committee for the Implementation of Reverse Logistics Systems.
Normative Resolution COPAM
2008 Complement the COPAM Normative Resolution no 87
no 124
Normative Resolution COPAM
2005 Changes and complements the COPAM Normative Resolution No. 62
nº 87
Resolution CONAMA no 303 2002 It deals with parameters, definitions and limits of Permanent Preservation areas.
Normative Resolution COPAM
2002 Provides criteria for classification of retention dams
nº 62
Ordinance DNPM nº 237 2001 Approves the Mining Regulatory Standards - NRM
Analysis of company and government actions in the mining tailings theme

The accident occurred in Mariana – MG in 2015 promoted the discussion about the current legislation
and encouraged companies and governments to adopt actions and publicize the efforts and results of
innovation projects and minimization of tailings generation / recovery.

Companies have announced projects to reduce energy consumption, reduce water use in processes
and reduce waste disposal.

Companies actions on mineral waste

Government actions on mineral waste

The Dynamics of the Mining Sector and Tailings

The dynamics of the mining sector is determined by economic aspects, legislation and by the
knowledge and techniques dominated by the productive chain.

Dynamizers factors  184 companies supplying equipment and inputs for

mining
Knowledge/
Economy Legislation • most are foreign capital,
Technology
• 80 have offices or representation in Brazil.
• São Paulo (53.3% of them),
• 37.2% are located in Minas Gerais.
Equipment
suppliers
Mining User  Knowledge chain in the theme
Companies Sectors • vacancies for undergraduate mining
Inputs engineering (292 in 2004, 2,505 current
suppliers vacancies)
Productive chain
• research groups (68) - 41 Institutions of
Science, Technology and Innovation i(17
Fomentatio Environmenta federative units).
Governmen Financial l and
ICTs n • 95 research lines declared in the mining
t System regulatory
Innovation bodies theme, 26% are directly related to wastes /
Others relevant
actors wastes.
Technologies for ore recovery from tailings

To process and to 'reconcentrate' the useful mineral

It is a consensus that contained in the tailings
minerals are natural finite
resources and that the
quality of ore deposits has
• current techniques should be modified to be possible to work with fine and
deteriorated worldwide. ultrafine particles, specifically flotation.

Fundamental point to explore the environmental and

economic potential of mineral tailings

• reduction of tailings dams.

The reuse and disposal of mineral waste in an

efficient, environmentally and socially responsible
way

• opportunities to develop the industrial competitiveness.

 Mineral Processing Technologies
Concentration
Physical Property Technology Equipment
process

Jigging Jig

The physical concentration are Dense medium

Tromps Vase
separation
and will still be the most used in
Drum
the industrial mineral Teska wheel
processing. Dense medium cyclone
Gravity Specific weight Separation in water Dina Whirpool
methods (density) film Autogenous cyclone
Trough
Spiral
• The liberation size of the Reichert Cone
Shaking table
wanted mineral is generally of Knelson Separator
the order of 100 μm. However, Centrifugal
separation
Falcon Separator
Multigravity separator (MGS)
due to the low-grade of the Kelsey centrifugal jig

deposits verified in the last

Cross belt sorter
decades, finely disseminated Permanent magnetic separator
complex ores, whose liberation (ETR)
Drum separator
is around 100 μm - 10 μm, Magnetic Magnetic
Magnetic separation
Gill Separator
methods susceptibility Jones magnetic separation
have been being processed. High-gradient separator
Eddy current separator
Ferrous Wheels separator
• Gravity and magnetic Slon Separator

separation are by far the

Mechanical cells
oldest and mature mineral Flotation, selective Surface chemistry Flotation
Tank cells
dispersion Pneumatic cells
separation technologies. Canadian column
• Flotation is not fully Tank leaching
Hydrometallurgy
understood yet methods
Chemical reactivity Hydrometallurgy Heap leaching
Bioleaching

Electrostatic methods Electrical Conductivity Electrostatic separator Electrostatic separator

 Mineral Processing Technologies
Challenges and opportunities in the processing of finely disseminated complex ores and marginal ores.

Prepared with information:

Negeri T et al. Innovation, Research and development needs in mineral processing and extrative metallurgy. Canada Mining Innovation Council. 2008.
NRC. Minerals, Critical Minerals and the U.S. Economy. National Research Council, Washington D.C., The National Academies Press, 2008.
 Technologies for ore recovery from tailings

Ideally the tailings should not contain the wanted mineral, but there is a high percentage of these
minerals that are not recovered in the concentration process and go to this flow. In the case of iron ore,
the iron content in the tailings (10 to 60%).

 According to Wolff [6], the mineral industry Processed Tailing

Proportions and world /processed
characteristics%ofsolids Particle
tailings stored size
in dams.
traditionally designates tailings as follows: mineral ore (kg/ton) (w/w) distribution
 coarse or granular tailings (greater than 50 μm); Coal 75 -120 5-55 > 75 µm (19%)
 fine tailings (between 10 and 50 μm), and < 4 µm (66%)
 ultrafine slurry (particles smaller than 10 μm).
Bauxite 1 – 1,5 20-80 2 – 100 µm
Intermediate
Red mud/ produced < 5 µm (50%)
Fast Flotation. alumine
Low use of collector,
Fines particles liberated
necessary to use Copper 128 -196 > 75 µm (66%)
Big superficial area . Coarse Particles
depressor < 1 µm (34%)
Need of much collector Low liberation grade
and little amount of
Recovery

depressor
Phosphate 375 5-45 > 75 µm (66%)
<37 µm (57%)
Iron 450-500 30-50 < 10 µm

Source: prepared by the authors with data from Wang et al.

Particles size (µm)
(2014); Marques (2011); Silva et al. (2015)
Recovery by flotation as a function of particle size.
Source: adapted from Fuerstenau (1988).
Technical-scientific publications - mining tailings

The goal was to evaluate the state of the art of technologies used in mineral processing, either for ore
processing or tailings

Search criteria for scientific papers

Bauxite Kaolin
Mineral tailings recovery
Coal Limestone
Fine particles recovery
Last 30 years Copper Niobium
Mineral processing
Gold Phosphate
Mineral dressing
Iron
 Technical-scientific publications - mining tailings
32 %

12 %
17 %
485 publications
58% last ten years

The publications are concentrated Bauxite

in the periods 2009-2013 (Fe, Au Coal
and Cu) and 2001-2003 (coal).
Copper

Gold

Iron

Kaolin

Limestone

Niobium

Phosfate

Number of papers by mineral substance (last thirty

Number of papers per year in the period 1986 - 2016. and ten years)
Technical-scientific publications - mining tailings
Fe

ROTEX SIEVE
Strong predominance (41.5%)
of the use of gravity or magnetic
separations (22.6% and 18.9%,
respectively).

SIEVING

The search has no found

radical innovation in mineral
processing technologies.
DEWATERING

Synthesis of the technologies applied to the tailings

recovery in the papers analyzed.
Emphasis is given on the use of established
techniques of mineral processing.
Source: prepared by the author
 Technical-scientific publications - mining tailings

Among the new uses given to the tailings, after processing, stand out those that have as target market
the civil construction industry, metallurgical and steel industries.

Mining Industry
Filling for the mine pit

Agriculture
Iron Soil Corrective

Civil Construction Metallurgy/Siderurg Mining Industry

Glazed coating
Walls
Decks
y
Iron ore
concentration
Disposal of tailings in
paste form The papers were classified into:
Bauxite Metallurgy/Siderurg
y
Civil Construction
Geopolymer • theoretical (23.5 %)
• market prospecting (3.0 %)
Bauxite concentration

Metallurgy/Siderurg
Mining Industry y
Coal
• experimental work (73.5 %).
Feasibility of Dry processing
marginal deposits
Agriculture
Artificial soil
Mining Industry
Influency of washing
water
China Clay
Metallurgy/Siderurg Metallurgy/Siderurg
y y
REEs Oxide REEs Oxide
concentration concentration
Civil Construction Civil Construction Mining Industry
Cupper Cement artifacts Geotechnical evaluation Sizing of the
dewatering system

Civil Construction Mining Industry

Gravelstone Precast concrete blocks Maximization of
water recovery in the

Mining Industry
pulp
The experimental works were
Phosfate Disposal of tailings in

Metallurgy/Siderurg
paste form
developed
Manganese y
Metal recovery
64% on a bench scale
Metallurgy/Siderurg
Gold y
Metal recovery 20% on an industrial scale and
REE Metallurgy/Siderurg
y
REEs Oxide
4% on a physical model.
concentration
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Technology development Exploratory development Real-scale Industrial

development production

Level of technological development presented in the papers, types of tailings and new uses proposed.
Conclusions

15 mineral substances (of 70

Importance of mining to the Brazilian
economy
produced in Brazil, 2010),
correspond to about 90% of the
661 tailings dams
national waste production, being also
characterized as the most important
waste generators

9 mineral substances
generated around 85% of
the total wastes.
US$ 40 billion (2014)

Only 15 substances
42.3% are associated with
generated in 15 years about
iron ore production
4.86 billion tons of tailings

Jobs
214,000 direct
And Iron, gold and phosphate
production = 58% of the total
2.7 million indirect
generated.
 Conclusions
The context: Minerals are natural resources and
are finite.
Low-grade of the deposits and submarginal ores - minerals
whose liberation size has gone from about 100 μm to
something in the order of 100 μm to 10 μm.
However, the mineral processing plants were projected to
operate in particle size ranges between 50 μm and 100
μm.
tailings brings a high percentage of valuable minerals that
has not been recovered and are discarded in piles or
tailings dams.
Documents written by researchers of countries with
mineral tradition point as a great challenge to
improvement of the efficiency of the processes, the need
of development of technologies to process finely
disseminated materials has been discussed since the
2000s.
Many technical-scientific studies have been
carried out worldwide in the tailings theme - iron
ore tailings are the most investigated
The investigations aimed at concentrating minerals
contained in the various types of tailings have employed
conventional mineral processing techniques, not indicating
any radical innovations in mineral processing.
China stand up in these studies, mainly in the
development of high intensity magnetic separator.
The level of technological development of the routes
proposed in these studies, most of them at the level of
development and exploratory of technological, i.e.
theoretical or bench level.
Although the Brazil has a robust legal framework and the
tragedy of the accident with the Samarco tailings dam has
encouraged discussion on the problem of tailings disposal,
the problem is far from being solved.
 Conclusions

Dynamizer institutions of the chain

The analysis of the situation and the
Mining activities
Public ministry Environmental agencies actions of the actors that make up the
regulatory agencies
mineral chain allows inferring a
provocation
The absence, in this chain, of a link
aimed at the use of tailings. The use
Metallurgy/
of tailings does not figure explicitly in
siderurgy the mineral chain, as a business,
Mineral
processing
neither for the mining companies nor
equipment for a third actor in this process.
suppliers
Civil construction
materials
Mining
The Circular Economy
Chemical inputs companies Intermediate approach is extremely
suppliers detaining dams adherent to this context
Fertilizer industry
and agricultural
correctives
This concept covers the need
Other inputs
to transform waste into inputs
suppliers for the production of new
Technical textiles products
industry

Development Foment Research

Public funds Banks Universities
banks agencies institutes

Financing sources Knowledge chain

Conclusions

• Research into new

• Knowledge and
properties to separate

OPPORTUNITIES
multidisciplinary teams in
CHALLENGES

materials
several CTIs
• Development new
• CTIs partnership
beneficiation technologies
• Increase of sources of
• Creation of new
specific funding in the sector
fomentations dedicated to
• Partnerships between
this subject
mineral companies and
• Structuring projects based
users of raw material
on business models

Opportunities and challenges of the new mining chain model.

[ Thank you!
sandralm@ipt.br
www.ipt.br/en