Comminution and Material Handling
A circular economy for exponential growth
A circular economy, which promotes restoring and regenerating resources, decoupling economic growth from resource use, and closing material loops in the economy, presents itself as an opportunity to move towards climate change mitigation and adaptation in the Chilean mining industry. A circular economy emphasizes maximizing value and minimizing waste generation throughout all stages of extraction and processing. It aims to preserve natural resources and extend the lifespan of extracted minerals and equipment, ensuring their value is sustained over time.
Chile’s circularity is indebted, in part, to the nation’s legal framework. The Chilean National Mining Policy 2050 cites a circular economy as a strategic objective to harmonize the development of the industry with the needs of the environment. The policy specifically calls on mining suppliers to deliver products that can be recycled and reused. Additionally, Chile’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Law, enacted in 2016, mandates producers to manage and finance the recovery or disposal of waste. “In the mining industry, there are processes of segregation and valorization of the main waste streams. There has been an acceleration of these practices due to the EPR law,” remarked Jerome Poujaud, business development director for Chile and Peru at Veolia.
Regulations are applied across the sector. “To stay competitive as a comminution firm, we need to stay updated with client requirements, adapting their technological guidelines to suit our national context, and increasing our specialization accordingly,” explained Rodrigo Morales, technical director at TecProMin.
“A linear economy is easier to implement, as the incorporation of new materials requires fewer investments. However, the younger generation is engaged in the concept of reuse. Attracting this talent will require considering alternatives.”
Philippe Hemmerdinger, CEO, TTM
Use-life extension
Extending the use life of mining equipment and components is a critical strategy in advancing the principles of the circular economy as it enhances resource efficiency, reduces waste, drives economic benefits and minimizes environmental impact.
Hofmann Engineering, a company dedicated to the design, manufacture, and repair of equipment and components, has taken this concept head on. “Our commitment to product improvement involves customizing solutions for each customer to optimize equipment performance and longevity,” said Jarrod Hofmann, general manager at Hofmann Engineering. “Our track record of delivering tangible results, such as doubling the service life of HPGR rollers, has instilled confidence in our customers,” Hofmann continued.
Refurbishing equipment before disposal is essential to the principles of the circular economy. One such effort is Haver & Boeker’s Niagara rebuild program. “While vibrating screens have coatings made of materials like rubber and polyurethane, their steel structure offers infinite recyclability. Our goal is to refurbish or reuse these steel components before resorting to steel recycling plants, which consume substantial energy,” said Roberto Montiglio, managing director, Andean Region. “Not only does this reduce emissions but yields cost savings of 30-50% compared to new screens,” he continued.
Delegating capital for new equipment may be a thing of the past, said Andrés Osorio, general manager at STM: “For clients to use a piece of equipment designed with certain characteristics for another job, or in the same job but with increased capacity, it is no longer necessary to remanufacture the equipment. Now we can reuse and enhance current equipment, which extends the use life of equipment and reduces waste.”
“A core focus of our business is the sustainable management of raw materials, primarily through recycling. More than 80% of our raw materials come from recycled products.”
Enrique Vargas, Country Manager Chile and Peru, Magotteaux
A second life
“It is estimated that the mining industry recycles only around 7% to 9% of its industrial waste,” lamented Edwin Vildósola, president of FLSmidth South America.
Efforts are being made to increase this percentage. “We are implementing a machine in our megaproject in Casablanca to separate steel from rubber, allowing us to valorize rubber and recover steel, which can be reused in our linings or used by foundries through agreements,” said Vildósola.
In April 2024, Metso inaugurated a circular recycling solution at its factory in Concón for its Megaliner, Poly-Met, and rubber liners with the same goal: separation of different liner materials so that rubber and steel components can be recycled or reused in the manufacturing of new products. Eduardo Nilo, president, South America at the company emphasized: “This will be the world's largest and will allow us to recycle our mill linings completely, significantly reducing our carbon footprint. We have already initiated the testing phase and have recycled over 200 t of lining, and we plan to recycle close to 600 t/y over the next few years.”
Recycling significantly reduces the need for raw materials. “We have initiatives to recycle the wear parts from our sizer, leading to lower raw material consumption in the long term,” said Andrés Costa, managing director Chile and Peru at Takraf. “The sizer, a comminution technology, is a low profile, lightweight, and efficient piece of comminution equipment originating from the coal industry. Our goal is to extend this technology further, making it increasingly effective for hard rock mining applications,” Costa clarified.
Lime manufacturer Cbb Cales uses more than 20,000 liters annually of alternative liquid fuel derived from residual oils from large-scale mining operations to operate its kilns in Antofagasta and Copiapó. This reduces the use of fossil fuels and prevents these oils from ending up in untreated disposal sites. This is not the only circular economy initiative the company is implementing, said Ulises Poirrier, lime area manager at CBB: “We are exploring carbon capture, an emerging technology that would allow us to capture CO2 from our pipes and transform it into reusable or marketable fuels.”
“If a client wants to use a piece of equipment designed with certain characteristics for another job, or in the same job but with increased capacity, it is no longer necessary to remanufacture the equipment. Now we can reuse and enhance current equipment, which extends the use life of equipment and reduces waste.”
Andrés Osorio, General Manager, STM
Metal
In 2024, the copper industry will release 100 million t of carbon into the atmosphere across the whole value chain. This amount is dwarfed by emissions from steel production, totaling 1.6 billion t/y. Steel and copper, however, can be recycled infinitely, without losing their physical properties. Equipment manufacturers have capitalized on this to bring new value, without new emissions.
Magotteaux’s Scrap Buy Back program is reinforcing a circular economy for all industry players. “Used balls from our customers are melted down and remanufactured,” said Enrique Vargas, country manager Chile and Peru. “More than 80% of our raw materials come from recycled products.”
Cable manufacturing company Madeco by Nexans implements a copper recycling program. In 2023, the company recycled 295.3 t of copper. Recycled copper reduces water usage by 90% and energy consumption by five times. Camilo Elton, general manager, noted: “The recycling program for copper is of paramount importance, especially given the potential copper shortage in the future. By recycling copper, we not only address potential shortages but also reduce our environmental impact.”
Australian based Glencore Technology developed ISACYCLE, a plant in Spain, scheduled to start operations in June 2025. “ISACYCLE allows us to recirculate or recycle various disposable materials from computers, cell phones, and cars, extracting metals for reuse,” said Christian Pastén Cortés, Latin America business development manager at the firm.
Pastén emphasized, however: “In Latin America, we are still behind in adopting this aspect of circular economy for mining, but the technology exists. It is just a matter of educating, promoting, and getting local investors familiar with it.”
“With available technology and successful cases in the region, tailings reprocessing in Chile is entirely plausible and can become an important strategy to meet the growing demand for copper.”
Juan Campos, General Manager, Ingenalse
Recovery and renewal
According to estimates from the National Service of Geology and Mining, mining operations in Chile generated 13 billion t of tailings between 1905 and 2022. The amount of tailings will continue to increase, as ore grades continue to lower. Secondary mining— the practice of extracting valuable metals from previously mined materials or waste— presents itself as an opportunity to both reduce waste and bring new value from what was previously deemed waste. “The challenge is to apply existing technology to reduce waste. The importance of implementing technology is to not generate waste, to move from the circular economy as a concept to an actual process. For example, if a rock is scanned and found to contain no minerals, it can be returned to nature without added chemicals,” explained Fabian Pizarro, director of corporate affairs and sustainability at Innovations in Mining, a technology firm that operates an ore sorting plant with a client in Tierra Amarilla.
Ore sorting, a process using sensors to identify and sort materials based on their physical or chemical properties, increases the efficiency of mineral processing by pre-concentrating the ore before further processing steps, reducing energy, water, and rock waste in one technology. Ore sorting allows mining operations to take advantage of low-grade ore below cutoff grades of 0.3%, explained Philippe Hemmerdinger, CEO of TTM: “Using a system with laser radiation, we determine if the rock has copper or not. We pass the mineral through these systems, and remove the waste material, leaving behind the material that has more copper. This allows us to double or triple the concentration of the material and recover 85-90% of the copper. We send more minerals to the plants, with a higher concentration of copper.”
Waste rock is not the only waste stream that copper producers are taking advantage of. “In El Teniente, we worked on a project to recover low-concentration soluble copper. The water that flowed from the lower section of a closed tailings tank had traces of copper and Codelco bid to find a solution to extract, recover, and reincorporate this copper into their processes,” said Poujaud.
“HPGR technology is increasingly prevalent in the sector, with most mining companies expected to migrate to it. Not only is it suitable for hard ore processing, but it also reduces energy consumption by about 70%.”
Jaime Álvarez, General Manager, South America, Fluor
Natural resource preservation
Average ore grade in Chile decreased from 1.39% in 2005 to around 0.65% in 2019, according to EIA estimates. “This means we need to process more material, especially through regrinding, to produce commercially viable concentrates,” said Pastén, which leads to increased energy and water consumption.
Key to the circular economy is the preservation of natural resources. Communition firms in Chile have introduced High-Pressure Grinding Rollers (HPGRs) to overcome these constraints: “We are convinced that these solutions will be even more relevant given the increasing demands for reducing carbon footprint and the efficient use of resources such as water and energy. We are focused on implementing these technologies not only in Greenfield but also in Brownfield operations,” said Martin Brenner Knoch, regional managing director LATAM at Weir.
Fluor, a global engineering, procurement, and construction company, was recently involved in a US$1.7 billion, 28-month project, in which HPGRs were introduced. Fluor has implemented the solution across the Chilean mining sphere. “HPGR technology is increasingly prevalent in the sector, with most mining companies expected to migrate to it. Not only is it suitable for hard ore processing, but it also reduces energy consumption by about 70%,” said Jaime Alvarez, general manager, South America at Fluor.
Decreases in ore grade are also changing the flotation circuit, said Cristóbal Undurraga, CEO at start-up Ceibo. “The shift from easily processed, superficial ores to deeper, refractory ores presents significant processing challenges due to the complex nature of copper deposits like chalcopyrite, necessitating a move from leaching to concentration methods."
Ceibo’s method repurposes idle SX-EW infrastructure, reinforcing circular economy principles, and alters traditional heap process conditions to extract copper from chalcopyrite. “Unlike conventional acid leaching methods, which after extracting 15-20% of the copper result in the ore being passivated, our technique can achieve significantly higher extraction rates of 70-75% copper,” Undurraga continued.
In the Chilean mining industry, the integration of circular economy principles, exemplified by regulatory frameworks and advanced technologies, signal a transformative shift towards sustainable and resilient resource management, reducing environmental impact while driving economic growth.
Article header image courtesy of Weir Minerals