Tailings

Historically, mining processes with poor recovery rates have resulted in tailings with significant amounts of recoverable material. This material can be extracted with dredgers, however. Typical applications can be found in the coal, iron ore, gold, diamond, copper, oil sands and other mining sectors.

There are several factors that justify the extraction and reprocessing of tailings:

Tailings require fewer resources than conventional mining. A dredger can – in a single step – extract and transport material to a processing plant located even kilometres away. This reduces costs related to capital equipment, labour, fuel and maintenance.
Advances in reprocessing technology
The processing of tailings allows for additional production without increasing a mine’s ecological footprint or requiring additional land permits.