915 Metso Technology MT4.0 Function Key Performance Contribution Applicable Stage High-Rate & Paste Thickeners Water recovery from tailings slurry; density conditioning for transport Underflow 60–75% solids; recirculation 74– 78% Concentrator — TSF interface Larox® Pressure Filter / VPA Filter Press Dry stack filtration; elimination of free water from TSF Moisture <15%; recirculation 88–91% Dry stack TSF feed preparation PSI 500i Particle Size Analyzer Real-time grind PSD monitoring; grinding circuit closed-loop control Stable grind target; optimized liberation for flotation and dewatering Grinding circuit Courier® On-Stream Analyzer Continuous multielement assay; early detection of ore type shifts Proactive reagent adjustment; stable tailings chemistry Flotation — tailings streams ViscoSense® Rheology Analyzer Real-time viscosity and yield stress measurement in tailings lines Adaptive pump and thickener control; reduced blockage risk Tailings pumping system Metso Metrics Platform Digital twin; remote monitoring; predictive analytics; expert support Anomaly detection; proactive optimization; reduced site visits Plant-wide — remote operations HSC Sim Process Simulation Life-of-mine energy and water modeling; equipment sizing optimization Design-phase energy savings; avoidance of oversized infrastructure Feasibility — detailed design Table 2 – Metso technology portfolio mapped to Mine to Tailing 4.0 functions. Sources: Metso (2022a, 2022b, 2023a, 2023b, 2024a). 8. DISCUSSION 8.1 Theoretical and Practical Contributions Mine to Tailing 4.0 represents a conceptual advance over both conventional tailings management and earlier integrated mine-to-process frameworks. Its distinguishing feature is the use of real-time ore characterization data—generated upstream at the mine face and in the crusher and grinding circuit feed—as the primary driver of adaptive control in the concentrator and tailings circuit. This approach transforms the tailings system from a passive recipient of concentrator outputs into an active, predictive element of the broader value chain management system (Napier-Munn et al., 2005; Runge et al., 2019). The empirical results presented in Section 7 demonstrate that the productivity and environmental benefits of MT4.0 are not mutually exclusive: operations that achieved the greatest water recirculation rates and energy reductions (Cases B and D, dry stack configurations) also reported the largest TSF footprint reductions and longest life extensions—outcomes that directly reduce capital expenditure requirements and geotechnical risk simultaneously. This finding is consistent with broader evidence in the sustainable mining literature that environmental performance and operational efficiency are complementary rather than competing objectives when addressed at the system level (Edraki et al., 2014; Franks et al., 2014).
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0Mzk2