Tailings storage facilities (TSFs) sit at the nexus of these pressures. They represent the largest volumes of mining-generated material, retain significant water inventories, are associated with the majority of serious environmental incidents in the industry, and consume substantial energy to manage through their operational lives (Edraki et al., 2014; Franks et al., 2014). Conventional TSF management—in which tailings are treated as an isolated end-of-pipe output of the concentrator, with minimal integration into mine planning or process optimization—is increasingly inadequate to meet regulatory, social, and economic demands. The Mine to Tailing 4.0 (MT4.0) concept addresses this inadequacy by proposing a fully integrated, geometallurgy-driven framework that connects ore characterization, mineral processing, and tailings management into a single adaptive system. The '4.0' designation reflects the framework's grounding in Industry 4.0 principles: digital connectivity, real-time sensing, predictive analytics, and closed-loop control applied across the full value chain from mine face to final tailings deposition (Runge et al., 2019). The central proposition is that by anticipating variability in ore properties upstream and propagating that information through the concentrator to the TSF, mining operations can simultaneously reduce water use, lower energy consumption, extend TSF lifespan, and strengthen their social license to operate. This paper presents the technical foundations of Mine to Tailing 4.0, describes the enabling technology portfolio provided by Metso—a global leader in minerals processing with operations in approximately 50 countries—and presents empirical outcomes from its implementation in Latin American copper and gold operations. The remainder is structured as follows: Section 2 reviews the geometallurgical basis of MT4.0; Section 3 describes water optimization technologies; Section 4 addresses energy efficiency; Section 5 presents digital enablement through Metso's sensing and analytics platform; Section 6 covers sustainability and risk management dimensions; Section 7 reports empirical results; and Sections 8–9 provide discussion and conclusions. 2. GEOMETALLURGICAL BASIS OF MINE TO TAILING 4.0 Tailings properties are fundamentally determined by ore mineralogy and the processing route applied to it. Clay-rich ores retain high volumes of interstitial water due to their porosity and plasticity, reducing dewatering efficiency and increasing both operating costs and the water inventory stored in the TSF (Blight, 2010). Variations in sulfide content affect chemical stability and acid rock drainage (ARD) potential. Mineralogical variability—whether driven by geological transitions, ore blending decisions, or grade changes—generates corresponding disturbances in concentrator performance that propagate to tailings in the form of variable rheology, density, and settling behavior (Napier-Munn et al., 2005). A geometallurgical model integrated into life-of-mine planning provides predictive insight into these dynamic ore properties and their downstream effects. By characterizing the ore body with sufficient spatial resolution to capture mineralogical, geotechnical, and geochemical variability, and linking this characterization to processing and tailings models, operators can anticipate dewatering performance, TSF water balances, and geotechnical stability margins weeks or months in advance (Dominy et al., 2018). This anticipatory capability is the cornerstone of Mine
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