IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency

UNFC National Workshop Cuba

- UNFC-2009 application for Comprehensive Extraction projects and alignment with Sustainable

Development Goals

Hari Tulsidas

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2015 Commodity prices have

fallen to their lowest level since the financial crisis and — by at least one measure — to the lowest this century.

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Mining boom since 2004 made the industry complacent

Declining productivity Declining efficiency Declining quality of new discoveries Loss of confidence by investors

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Contracting economies Layoffs

Increasing conflicts

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Catastrophic spills and accidents have become very frequent

November 5, 2015 Samarco, Brazil damburst unleashed 60 million cubic metres of mud and mine waste that demolished a nearby village, killed at least 13 people and polluted a major river valley, killing fish and reaching the Atlantic Ocean.

Gold King Mine Spill, USA, 2015

Mount Polley, Canada 2014

Jade Mine disaster, Myanmar, 2015

Coal mine accident, Philippines , 2015 Red mud spill, Hungary , 2010

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Change the 100+ year old mining industry narrative ?

“Running a mining operation that is profitable and rewarding for all stakeholders, remains hugely challenging” Paula Munsie, CEO, Mining Indaba

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What to do when left behind?

Take the inventory Make some calculations Put ideas into action

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17 goals for leaving no one behind

“We are committed to achieving sustainable development in its three dimensions — economic, social and environmental — in a balanced and

integrated manner” - Heads of 193 Countries

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Mining intersects with each of the 17 SDGs

Integrated Interdependent

Inclusive Indivisible

Interconnected Interlinked Innovative

Irreversible Mapping Mining to the Sustainable Development Goals: A

Preliminary Atlas, Columbia Center on Sustainable Development, 2015

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UNFC can have many dimensions beyond what is obvious

International best practice for sustainable management of resources Standard for reporting base-line data on natural resources Tool for managing these mineral resources required for food production Interconnected tool to manage impact on water systems Unified management system for all energy resources Value-addition possibilities can be quantified Issues related to environmental impact and mitigation can be assessed Sustainability reporting can be linked to UNFC-2009 Promotes multi-stake holder global partnership Provides a frame-work for high-quality data for monitoring progress

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Case study: Rio Tinto is also a miner

Agriculture – Making hay when sun shines in Pilbara, Australia

• 2012 - Hamersley Agricultural Project - innovative use for excess water from Marandoo mine as it is developed below the water table. 800 hectares; 30000 t hay /year.

• 2014 - Nammuldi Agricultural Project - utilises mine water from the below water table component of the Nammuldi mine. 900 hectares

Cattle stations • Runs 6 stations in Western Australia

with 25,000 head of cattle in 1.5 million hectares.

The company is not wasting any resources. While the water extracted will be used to grow stock feed, the hay—in turn— will be given to cattle on the six stations

Rio Tinto farmers with hard hats

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Comprehensive extraction (CX)

Roots in Russian and Chinese research, 1990s. Disturb the ground once… extract everything of value in one

pass E.g., unconventional U resources, mainly phosphates; but also

copper, coal, oil shales … Rethink the flowsheet… rethink the outcome See: New 'Comprehensive' Approaches to Uranium Mining and Extraction http://www.iaea.org/OurWork/ST/NE/NEFW/News/2011/repository/New-Comprehensive-Approaches-to-Uranium-Mining-and-Extraction.html

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CX – A new mining paradigm* ?

CX is an new, integrated, technology-independent, procedure for discovery, recovery and use of mineral

wealth from a target area and for their efficient and equitable management across the entire product value chain, including cyclical and end of life outcomes, in

compliance with the objectives of the waste hierarchy. .

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What is CX?

• Comprehensive extraction is a new mining business paradigm • Based on an equitable distribution of benefits • Reinforced by an appropriate policy, regulatory framework,

stakeholder acceptance and a selection of technologies • Focus on social, economic and environmental outcomes and not

on one-off processes or particular technologies. • Disturb the ground minimally, maximize advantages and leave no

legacy wastes. • Achieve equilibrium by optimising the returns and dividends by a

strategic approach to resource extraction, processing and conservation by emphasising on range and resilience.

• Delivers value-add across the entire resource life-cycle, which is in part cyclical and adapts and responds to social-economic needs through continual improvement.

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Five Pillars

• Creating a competitive edge: Establish a new business paradigm based on the premise of disturbing the ground minimally, recovering multiple resources and leaving no wastes.

• Promoting sustainability: Ensure equitable returns and dividends by focusing on triple bottom line social, economic and environmental outcomes.

• Establishing an improved policy and regulatory framework: Improve extractive industry management strategies and apply “constructive regulation”.

• Stimulating innovation: Ensure value-add across the entire resource life-cycle by integrating all processes and controlling the entire value-chain.

• Fostering social acceptability: Ensure “Social Licence to Operate” is earned and retained throughout the life-cycle.

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Over 45 million tonnes of U; and what else? No Type Number of reported

world deposits No of U deposits in UDEPO

Total Resources in UDEPO (t U)

Average Grade (ppm U)

Remarks

1 Intrusive (Plutonic sub-type)

646 – Porphyry copper depositsb 125 – Peralkaline complexeC 527 - Carbonatitesy

32 651 773 40 – 6 400 REE, Nb, Ta, Zr, U, Cu, Au, Ag, Mo

2 Polymetallic Iron Oxide Breccia Complex

33 z (Over 1003) 16 2 438 773 60 - 850 Cu, Au, Ag, U

3 Lignite-coal 27004 (23 057 billion tonnes Reserves + Resources a)

35 7 378 159 20 – 1 700

4 Phosphate 16355 (300 billion tonnesx)

57 13 941 025 10 – 3 033 P, S, F, REE, U

5 Black shale 50 20 962 042 17 - 1200 Ni, Co, Cu, U

6 Heavy mineral sands 777 REE, Ti, Th, Zr, Sn

7 Lignite-coal ash 21 billion tonnes8 Ge, U 8 Mine tailings 89 250 000 30 - 80 U, Ag 9 Mine wastes U 10 Mine water U 11 Phosphogypsum 2.6 – 3.7 billion tonnes

10 REE, F, S, U

12 Metal slags Sn, Nb-Ta slags with U

13 Sea water 4 500 000 000 3.3 ppb Multiple elements, U

Total (excluding seawater) 45 621 772

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Assessing comprehensive extraction

Quantities associated with known and potential resources

Contained in Ore concentrates/Phosphoric acid/other intermediate products

Not Commercial for current extraction

Potential for Commercial extraction

Commercially Extracted quantities

Dissipated in products, wastes,

environment

Not extracted;

available in Wastes/PG

process water

Available in raffinite and slags

Available in tailings and clays

Accurate and transparent management of essential materials

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Reference examples • Legacy tailings “reprocessing” projects

• Past experience in Kaltails project, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia (695 000 oz gold recoverd)

• Possible gold and uranium recovery from tailings in Tajikistan • Uranium tailings – 2009 "Involvement of the private sector in the legacy tailings

remediation in Central Asia: Reprocessing of tailings for recovery of valuable constituents," Kyrgyz Government.)

• Las Lagunas project in the Dominican Republic (Ag-Au) • Silver-gold tailings project in Sonora, Mexico • Clayton Silver Mine, Idaho, USA • Uranium recovery from coal ash – USA, China,

• Phosphogypsum utilization • Direct use in agriculture, roads, building materials • Value-added products with REE recovery

• Innovative business models • New CX style flow sheets such as found in Brazil (Santa Quiteria JV) • China (Wengfu business model)

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Thank you