Urban Mining: Cities, Landfills, etc. ... valuable future Raw Material Deposits?

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Shaun Newberry, AngloGold Ashanti vice-president of strategic project design and spokesman for collaborative research group the Technology Innovation Consortium (TIC), says all the gold miners are facing the same challenges that the TIC is addressing. These are how to mine deeper and particularly make advances in safety and productivity. At the moment, conventional SA deep-level mining uses hand-held drills to bore holes into the rock for the insertion of explosives. Also, the necessity of making tunnels wide enough to accommodate people and equipment causes significant dilution of grade, sometimes halving it, or worse. About 40% of an ore body has to be left behind as safety pillars to reduce seismic risks. The TIC is investigating mechanical rock-breaking techniques called continuous reef boring, which would be considerably safer and more efficient than hand-held drilling. It is looking at ways of improving extraction ratios and infrastructure efficiency by refining knowledge of the ore bodies and replacing mined rock with material of similar strength, called ultra high-strength backfill. This backfill is very different in its composition and strength from the material being used in the industry at present. Read the full article...

When waste is incinerated, about 20-30% of the initial mass accumulates as mineral residue bottom ash. Switzerland produces about 600,000-700,000 tonnes per year and Germany about three to four million tonnes per year. With growing demand for goods and a shortage of resources, the vision of reclaiming all available materials from waste is taking shape. The concept of waste incineration has been overtaken by energy-from-waste facilities. Energy optimisation is a must. With shortages of raw materials and rising demand for conventional and new materials, future potential lies in substances in bottom ash. Various analyses of bottom ash from waste incinerators have shown its potential. The average amount of iron is about 10%, with aluminium content at about 2% and copper 1%.

Despite successes with separated waste collection, the metal content in municipal waste is rising. One major reason is the increasing use of composite materials such as metal, wood and synthetics which can only be separated with considerable effort. Therefore, brass door handles and copper cables end up being incinerated. Read the full article...

Capital allocation and access to capital have rocketed to the top of the business risk list for mining and metals companies globally, up from number eight in 2012, in Ernst & Young’s annual Business risks facing mining and metals 2013-2014 report released yesterday. Ernst & Young’s Global Mining and Metals Leader Mike Elliott says these “capital dilemmas” threaten the long-term growth prospects of the larger miners at one end of the sector, and the short-term survival of cash-strapped juniors at the other end. Margin protection and productivity improvement (two, up from number four) and resource nationalism (three, down from one) round out the top three risks, while the threat of substitutes is a new entry in the rankings at number 10. “The rising business risks that are top of mind with mining and metals CEOs and Boards today are being driven by the need to protect returns and manage the interests of varied and often competing stakeholders. This is in stark contrast to just 12-18 months ago when fast-tracking production was still top of the agenda and capacity constraints defined the key business risks,” says Elliott.

For larger miners, the rapid decline in commodity prices in 2012, rampant cost inflation and falling returns have created a mismatch between miners’ long-term investment horizons and the short-term return horizon of new yield-hungry shareholders in the sector. Read the full article...