PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diversified miner Rio Tinto, copper miner Oz Minerals and Swedish metals major Boliden will partner on an initiative to manage tailings.

Under the umbrella of the Think & Act Differently (TAD) incubator initiative the three companies will fund and support innovators who are working to reimagine mining and processing to eliminate, minimise, reuse or find value in mine tailings.

The three will also collaborate on other selected innovations to pursue improved productivity while delivering benefits such as lower emissions and reduced waste.  

“We can accelerate technology much faster by working together and this is an example of how the industry can collaborate to support technology development,” Oz Minerals technology executive Michelle Ash said.

“We hope this way of working and supporting innovators provides a model that can be replicated because accelerated technology development is likely to have a positive impact on our industry and society.” 

The collaboration will support innovators by providing materials, funding, technical guidance and the potential for field trials at mine operations. Innovators will retain ownership of their intellectual property rights, with a licence to use those rights granted to the companies that support them.

“It isn’t very often that competitors come together to collaborate on industry-critical work. One such area historically has been health, safety and environment, where we learned that sharing leading practices boosts our collective performance,” said Rio chief technical officer Mark Davies.

“We think collaborating on tailings management capability improvement could have a similar, industry-wide impact. We’re excited to be partnering with Boliden and Oz Minerals through the TAD program.”

Boldien sustainability director Joanna Lindahl added that by collaboration on generic challenges for the mining industry in a pre-competitive setting, the company will be able to make progress faster and more resource efficient.

“For the inventors and startup companies in the TAD incubator, it is also an excellent opportunity to get insights and business understanding from several different mining companies. We are very much looking forward for this collaboration and hope to find new opportunities to strengthen the industry in the future.”