Group 11 Technologies

Industry Facts

The Facts

The mining sector recognizes the need to decarbonize - globally, there are around 28,00 large mine hauling trucks, predominantly diesel-powered. Together these trucks emit 68 million tons of C02 per year, equivalent to the total greenhouse gas of Finland or New Zealand
Conventional mining is inherently energy-intensive with a large carbon footprint with investor pressures for emission reductions rising
Greenhouse gas emissions associated with primary mineral and metal production was equivalent to approximately 10% of the total global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in 2018 with maturing conventional mines anticipating increasing hauling distances and strip ratios
Demand for raw material for battery metals, copper, gold and silver is on the increase and will impact the need for mining operations globally
Water is a growing source of concern with many mining operations located in water-stressed locations
Greenhouse gas emissions associated with primary mineral and metal production was equivalent to approximately 10% of the total global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in 2018
Depending on the forecast, demand for raw material for battery metals, copper, gold and silver is on the increase and will impact the need for mining operations globally
ISR was commercially introduced in the uranium sector during the 1970s in the USA, and then applied in many countries over last 50 years.
EU’s Director, Dennis Stover, PhD, was awarded several of the first ISR patents in the United States. The enCore Energy team has significant expertise in ISR technology, permitting and operations
ISR allows the extraction of minerals leaving the host rocks ‘in place’
ISR now provides for over 50% of all uranium extraction in the United States (US)
ISR eliminates the need for mine hauling trucks, waste and tailings piles, open pits and underground mining operations
ISR results in reduced or eliminated open pits, underground shafts, mills, tailings ponds, dams, waste dumps, and smelters
The US Department of Environmental Quality ensures that no solution escapes from the ISR area and ground water is protected
Sodium cyanide has been used in gold mining since 1887, and it remains the primary reagent in use for gold processing today. It is an effective, well managed and low-cost reagent, but it is increasingly opposed by many communities.
Mercury is commonly used in artisan mining and is considered more harmful than cyanide
Envirometal’s chemistry formulations recover gold from gravity and floatation concentrates with similar effectiveness and costs to cyanide
Envirometal’s chemistry operates with neutral pH, the ability and has the ability to continuously recycle the chemistry
Group 11 technology may not work in all settings and all processes at this time but research and development is underway to test applicability.

References

Raghav Muralidharan, Thomas Kirk and Thomas Kich Blank, Pulling the Weight of Heavy Truck Decarbonization: Exploring Pathways to Decarbonize Bulk Material Hauling in Mining, Rocky Mountain Institute, 2019, https://rmi.org/insight/pulling-the-weight-of-heavy-truck-decarbonization.

Shared Water, Shared Responsibility, Shared Approach: Water in the Mining Sector, 2017, International Council on Mining & Metals, www.commdev.org and www.icmm.com.

Commonwealth of Australia, 2010. Australia’s In Situ Recovery Uranium Mining Best Practice Guide, Canberra

Transparency on greenhouse gas emissions from mining to enable climate change mitigation, Mehdi Azadi, Stephen A. Northey, Saleem H. Ali & Mansour Edraki

https://rmi.org/how-much-co2-is-embedded-in-a-product/#

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpdkvEVZFik Nuclear by the Numbers, US Department of Energy