This project aimed to determine the feasibility of reprocessing historic mine tailings at the Old Tailings Dam (OTD) in western Tasmania. The OTD contains 38 Mt of pyritic tailings, which are impacting the water quality of the adjacent Savage River. Other methods of tailings management have been evaluated but deemed unfeasible. However, as the pyrite within the tailings is cobalt-rich, the option of reprocessing is now being considered.
Two stages of testing at the ALS labs in Burnie were conducted during the year supported by funding from the UTAS Research Enhancement Grants Scheme. This testing has shown that the use of the BIOX™ bacterial consortia in the oxidation of pyritic tailings from the OTD resulted in liberation of 93% refractory cobalt. These research findings were presented at the Biohydrometallurgy ’16 conference (Cornwall, UK) with the publication of an associated conference paper.
Further work will need to be conducted in order to determine if there is real economic benefit in pursuing cobalt extraction from the tailings at this site.