Polymer Technology for Environmentally Conscious Mining

Today, the mining industry is a vast global economic enterprise with mining operations in various parts of the world. Mining companies are always on the lookout for rich deposits of diverse minerals such as gemstones, potash, copper, coal and iron.

With growing emphasis on more sustainable energy, most industries have been influenced to limit their negative environmental impact while reducing pollution. Technology however, makes it easier, thus enabling the mining industry to reduce the harm its operations cause on the immediate environment. Polymer preparation systems are one such solution for mining companies.

Mining operations face the problem of how to safely clean mining sites once mining is done. For years, mining sites were left with waste, operations moving onto other locations without clearing them. However, with the formation of polymer solutions, water recovery is optimized with reusing, recycling and reclamation being implemented as well.

Tailings are minute pieces of the byproducts of the mining procedure. They enter the water used and are difficult to remove during cleaning due to their size, ranging from a grain of sand to a few micrometers. To avoid contaminating the water source, this water is kept in a retention pond.

To make the wastewater safe, the water is treated using a polymer solution. A dry polymer preparation system is used to disperse dry polymer before the wetting process to ensure polymer-particle wetting. The solution is then introduced into the pipeline where the turbulence mixes into the wastewater. This gets the tailings to clump up into larger pieces in a process referred to as flocculation, thus making it easier to remove them from the water. The preparation system induces higher polymer performance while keeping the chemical costs low. This increases reliability and reduces maintenance concerns. The treated wastewater can then be used to cool equipment, in the drilling process or introduced back into a close by water body.

A dry polymer preparation system also prevents polymer buildup at the volumetric feeder as well as the clogging of the conveyance system. Its flexibility also allows for customization to meet specific demands without the extra additional costs. In addition to this, some dry polymer systems have been used in the separation of the ore in hard-rock copper-mining, which could prove advantageous for many mining companies such as Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF).

Advances in polymer water purification technology have not only made it easier to treat wastewater as well as improve efficiency in mining operations but reduced the volume of water mines use in their day to day operations, which is efficient especially for water-constrained regions.

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