The Unknown Side of Copper Mining-Tailings!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ก.ย. 2024
- Last fall, we visited Rio Tinto Kennecott to check out the copper mining process from A to Z. While we saw almost every step, from loading ore to refining the 99.9% copper, we missed one critical step-tailings.
Tailings are everything that isn't the copper, gold, silver, and other metals Rio Tinto produces. Similar to beach sand, the Rio Tinto team and a host of contractors, like Ames, must effectively manage the material.
So, in this video, we're exploring the tailings process from A to Z, which made for a fantastic day!
To learn more about Rio Tinto Kennecott and Ames, check out their websites below!
www.riotinto.c...
amesconstructi...
Very nicely done. Addressing the use of surficants, dust, and the air quality challenges is another dimension ...and an important one in "the valley" !
The question is, how many hard hats were dropped and pipes clogged before the removal of hard hats were required? When these types of rules are made, its always interesting to go look at the history behind it.
Bump caps, or lineman's.... with a strap....how is that complicated? ...better than bare noggins, and likely not an MSHA approved practice ....just saying ...
@@johnmetzger-kr5yp you must be a safety officer, tell me do you wear a bump cap when your boyfriend is banging your head on the headboard
😂😂 so true
@johnmetzger-kr5yp
Even though we are considered an MSHA job we have different MSHA rules because we don't have a crusher, belt line or overhead work out here. Most places on site require hard hats but in some places hard hats are more of a hazard than a help.
7,000 tons an HOUR! Love seeing all the tech and machinery involved in this massive process
Super interesting. I wonder how abrasive that slurry is on those pipelines. Seems like it's essentially a liquid sandpaper.
When it's mixed enough water it's not, because there's nothing pushing it up against the pipe. And it's not flowing fast enough for it to be seriously abrasive
Most of the tailings pipelines are actually rubber lined and are routinely inspected. Common wear areas are torn down and replaced seasonally.
It is very abrasive, slurry pumps are rebuilt every couple of weeks. The pipes are rubber lined so don't wear all that much.
We made elbow sections for with slurry piping at my last job, it's disposed of like Kleenex.
it is abrasive the lines are usually changed every few years
7,000 tons an hour🤯 that’s gett’n it!! Copper mining is narly!! People have no idea what it takes to mine minerals like copper and zinc and nickel is another nasty one. Cool content boys👍👍
Phosphates?
That's just the slurry mix for 3 work areas. That doesn't even count the 12,000 gallons of water per min. It blew my mind when I fist started here.
Thank you very very much for going to the ( Trailing recycling area) I went to the overlook visiting center and I very much wanted to see the END process 😊❤😊
You my all things ", MINE" friend 😊❤😊
Showing me this is a dream come true. I saw the copper making building way off from the mining hole. I wanted so badly to SEE what you showed US all in the U- tube
Land. Again Thank you my friend. The "BIG" John Deere farm tractor was very interesting and to hear the superior say trials and errors "TESTING" of compact machines making it the best 😊❤😊
That is amazing that a Big farm tractor does the best compaction. I have watched videos of Farms doing corn storage for COWS and using Farm tractor for compactor in cement walled storage areas. Great video content, you are so so
Amazing the places you visited. And this end result is you have basic "SAND" storage with GRASS and it's not a big environmental issue. It's just a big sand bank. The same as the sea does in many areas of the country. Southern Oregon is one of them.
I've been wondering what goes on in that big pile of dirt I have to drive around whenever I drive into the city for a while, finally an answer!
I work in tailings at highland valley copper in B.C, super ingeresting seeing different setups. Our tailings used to be gravity but are now all pumped. Interesting to see tractors without blades to be used to place sand, our dam contractor uses d8's.
I thought they said the tractors only compact to the required 98%. The hoe places it. ?
@@blueman5924 if i had to guess the tractor packs it and the hoe moves the feed pipe, hence the cables on the bucket. They just allow gravity to place the sand and let the water run off to the drain.
@@TheSinjas ya it looks like they are directly placing on the crest, hence the compaction, i know highland and red chris just use dozer then its place on the crest later
We tried doing it with dozens but they found the compaction was actually better with the tractors and they don't use nearly as much fuel.
@@blueman5924no, that track hoe was moving the pipe with the material coming out. They were filling in the hole that's made from the material coming out of the pipe. The material runs all over out into the work area from the pipe, then the tractor drives over it to make ruts with the tires. The ruts have a few different purposes but a major one is to squeeze the water out of the ground and gives it a path to follow so it can drain out, this also achieves our compaction.
The price just to dispose of the waste.😢😢😢😢😢😢😢 Very interesting the amount of money and machinery involved in this process. Great video.
The tailings have to go somewhere. We recycle most of our water and every bit of the waste is used. The cost is worth it when you see how efficient it makes running our mine and how little water we have to pull from other places. It's the most efficient site I have ever worked for. 😁
@@charlotteunderdal2157 😂😂😂😂 I love people who pretend to be someone that they aren't. On TH-cam I pretend to be the President of the United States. Go play with your little cartoon characters.
I wish there was more data and context for some of these Big Works but I'm glad we can still see them.
What's crazy is this use to be out in the boonies and away from the population but the last few decades have surrounded this area. I will say they have done as much as humanly possible to keep it safe and less impact on the environment as possible. (of course its not 100% but still)
Thank you for the video
Any idea what size of pumping systems or pump stations they are using? Absolutely amazing setup they have on the barge that is awesome 👍. Excellent video, presentation and detailed description of the process 👍👍 Thanks for sharing.
In the process of changing job position from Crusher operator to tailing maintenance. Interesting video. ⛏️
Well maybe I'll get to meet ya lol
There are new ways to deal with the waste of copper mining. There are enzymes that safely break down sulfides. People need to study the science and not base their opinions on emotion and old technology. We do a lot of safe mining here in MN. I worked in a mine that had to deal with copper and cobalt. We did it safely and100% environmentally friendly.
There's nothing environmentally friendly about mining...
And no process is 100%@@sergiomarin1793
Thus our "tailings pond" and the dam to hold it back. The tailings have to go somewhere. We're building a dam out of ours to contain the hazardous water. I have done mining for years, most places just haul off the tailings and throw it out. They don't use it for anything. We do 😁
Very interesting 👌
Couldn't the course stuff be used as... sand? It seems we're running out of the good jagged sand in many areas of the world.
Sand can be produced from pretty much every kind of rock that is crushed. Our sand is used to build a dam to hold in the impoundment. You wouldn't want this kind of sand around your house or in your kids sand box. They actually warn us about that when you start working here.
Love your content. You do a great job with your explanations. Just a question regarding recycling of the tailings material......great to hear that 85% of the water is recycled! Since the de-watered material is referred to as "sand", are there any other uses for this material other than just building it up in berms and being used as impoundment for the tailings ponds? I'm guessing that there are heavy metals in the sand and that's why it's not re-used?
Excellent video.
At the coal mine, i worked at. A lot of the old guys would dump used oil and waste diesel on the coal before getting haul away to the prep plant. They would say that's why our coal had such high BTU's 😂
what the hell is waste diesel. Used solvent?
Contaminated diesel or diesel used for cleaning.
"I hate sand! It gets everywhere!"
-some longhaired dude named Skywalker 😁😁😁
They did that up on MN and a big rain broke the pond sending all the tailings into Lake Superior…1970’s?
I live just down the road in eastern Ky where the Martin co impoundment cut loose….i couldn’t imagine a place like this havin a accident like that
It would be deadly and catastrophic just like any other dam if it burst. Iys scary to think about sometimes when I'm on top lol like when we had an earthquake....yeah 😳🤣
At what point in the rock to copper to tailings processing are they inserting a process to isolate and refine Te ? This was noted about a year ago in news releases but I never caught exactly where and when in the process it fit.
7:20 A forgotten chocker cable?
I can't imagine what goes into a maintenance shutdown and startup.
I would guess it’s to move the outflow pipe around.
@@swimwest1000that's exactly what that track hoe is doing! 😁 it sucks to lose the choker and have to scratch around in the wet sand to find it in the dark. I did it just lastnight as a matter of fact hahaha
Where does the water come from originally?
We have holding ponds that collect rainwater or overflow from the Great Salt Lake. Then we recycle 80%of what we use so we don't have to pull from other bodies of water.
I wonder if the underflow or overflow could be used in concrete production.
The overflow sets up as hard as concrete around the edge of the impoundment so we can push sand onto it to widen the base of the dam as it gets taller. The underflow material is what the tractor drives on to build the dam 😁
They extracted copper but are there other minerals they could remove from the tailings? Seems a little wasteful. In Florida where they extract phosphate, the tailings piles still contain Uranium Thorium, Palladium, Silver, and massive amounts of Magnesium and of course Gypsum. Those tailings piles(Gypsum Stacks) are toxic and an environmental nightmare.
"RTK also produces iron ore, aluminum, tellurium, selenium, diamonds, and industrial minerals. RTK's silver and gold bars are accredited by the Responsible Jewellery Council and the London Bullion Market Association."
Couldn't that sand be used for making concrete?
Likely too many chemicals present to be suitable for concrete.
they do, in australia they use tailing to backfill underground stopes, which is usally a mix of tailing, cement and water
It’s the wrong consistency and size.
@@joeyduffield2684there are zero chemicals in concrete.
No. It's not that kind of sand. It sets up as hard as concrete but it's not the same.
interesting. once all this land has been built up.... what can people do with this land? i assume its out in the middle of nowhere, do they grow grass on it and fence it off for cows?
It's on the west side of Salt Lake City. What will probably happen is eventually it will be seeded with grasses and left alone.
We seed it but it's mostly for erosion and dust control. We have a lot of wildlife out here like deer and antelope. Putting cows out here probably wouldn't be a good idea. This tailings facility will be in operation for as long as Kennecott will be. Afterwards like you said it will be seeded during the reclamation process but it will only be for the wildlife.
Why so little plant life also we’re the metal plants like the ones that accumulate metal in there bodies up to 5% or more.
Also how toxic is the water at the end and do they reuse it.
It is toxic which is why there is so little plant life but we recycle 80% of our water to run our operation, the rest comes from holding ponds that collect t rainwater and overflow from the lake. Nothing from our facility goes back to the lake. That's why there is a big impoundment, to contain the toxic water and not put it back out into our surrounding bodies of water. That's also why we need the sand, so we can build the dam to hold back the hazardous water 🙂
@@charlotteunderdal2157 makes sense but have you considered increasing the amount of time and metals you get by planting metal trees yes there called that but understudyed.
The plants would reduce flooding from rain water and reduce toxic metals from going were they shouldn’t.
1 plant or tree can’t do it all almost all of them only accumulate 1 kind of metal like nickel or copper or iron or lithium. not a metal but salt as well tumble weeds will have cadmium but at low levels.
Guessing the mining company wanted to reduce its liability so outsourced its risk. Smart move
this usually isn't how they work -- they still bear responsibility for 100% of everything they do. Mining companies are usually best to focus on the mining, then they let contractors take care of most everything else. It's more cost effective
@@AaronWittit's so cool to see my place of employment and my crew on a video like this. Thank you for coming out. The video turned out great!
Highly doubt those tractors running on saturated sand are getting it to 98% compaction
Any thing heavier would sink into the sludge.
Why not " What tailings are?" He said,"What tailings is?"
Crushed rock and water.
where is the Video from Germany?
UTAH
Rio Tinto Kennecot it says in the description.
@@blueman5924 ur stupid?
This mine is at the southwest end of the Salt Lake valley and the tailings area is pretty close to I-80 there on the west side of the same valley. Should help if you look on a map of the area. The place is massive.
@@lylestavast7652 Bro i ask for the Video from Germany not the fucking mine...
I live in Magna Utah, which is the city directly south of this tailings pond. It’s always fun when we get a rain storm with wind out of the north. The wind picks up the dust, which then mixes with the rain and coats the whole city in a reddish mud. Get it off your car fast if you want the clear coat to last! Super fun to breathe as well!🤮
Wellllll we don't have anything red out here lol but you are right. I always feel really bad for the people of Magna when we are fighting the dust like crazy and it's still blinding over the city or the I-80. It's really stressful. That sand dust will absolutely ruin your clear coat and your windows if you don't get it off fast enough. But our dust is light tan or white. We have zero red dirt up here 🙂
First comment
Nobody gives a 💩
H
Ames is absolutely fucking HUGE
Yes they are 😁 I love working for Ames. They've been great to work for.
Your ideas are always fresh and original. Thank you for the inspiration!🎂🪞🪟🍃