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From trash to treasure: digital process modelling with ANDRITZ IDEAS
Canada-based clean technology firm EnviroGold Global optimizes processes for “metals without mining“.
Challenge
Identify potential for process optimization
Today’s humans face many quandaries – and a now familiar one is how to maintain our supply of essential electronics such as smartphones and transport modes without it costing the earth. We rely on metals and rare earth elements elements in myriad ways and yet mining can have a devastating impact on our planet. And with new mines come tailings – the leftover materials after the good stuff has been removed. Vast, vast quantities of tailings. Many ANDRITZ clients look to us to make their tailings safer and easier to handle.
Canadian clean technology company Envirogold Global Ltd (CSE:NVRO) has a fresh approach – metals without mining. Namely, revisiting tailings storage facilities, of which there are more than 30,000 worldwide and which contain more than three trillion USD of unrecovered metals. EnviroGold Global works with mining companies and governments to efficiently recover valuable metals from mine tailings while alleviating the environmental and financial burdens of mine rehabilitation.
EnviroGold Global has proprietary technology for this: Its NVRO process allows the recovery of previously unrecoverable metals while neutralizing toxic properties of mine tailings and is protected by 22 patents with two patents pending. And now it was looking to enhance the economic and environmental performance of this NVRO process. The company’s 2023 pre-feasibility study showed strong potential, but also indicated untapped opportunities to improve concentrate grade and process efficiency and to reduce operating costs. How could these opportunities be concretized?
Solution
Advanced simulation software and independent laboratory validation
EnviroGold Global chose ANDRITZ to explore digital process optimization to increase project value while reinforcing its commitment to sustainability. The goal was to refine the flowsheet, reduce unnecessary material throughput, boost metal recovery, and produce a higher-value concentrate, all with minimal capital investment. ANDRITZ used its industry-leading IDEAS™ simulation software to conduct a full digital process optimization. The process improvements were then laboratory tested by ALS Global to validate the assumptions in the model independently.
The key enhancements identified and validated covered a range of aspects for huge impact on both sustainability and profitability. For example, a 35% reduction in material sent to the NVRO leaching circuit and a 67% decrease in annual concentrate volume, which translates into substantial savings in processing, transport and refining charges. Moreover, the concentrate grade saw a significant increase versus the 2023 pre-feasibility study by more than 286% for gold and 450% for silver. Other notable improvements include gold recovery in preconcentration at 82%, as confirmed by ALS, and higher oxidation efficiency at 96.3%.
Modifications at minor cost will be needed to capture the benefits of the new flowsheet. Once in place, EnviroGold Global can expect lower operating costs driven by reduced reagent, energy, and consumables usage, as well as improved sustainability metrics, including reduced water consumption and lower greenhouse gas emissions due to smaller process volumes.
Results
Significant cost savings and ESG benefits
ANDRITZ’s process improvements translate into 232 MUSD in additional pre-tax cash flow over the life of the project, even before considering other CAPEX or OPEX optimizations. This includes savings of 13.7 MUSD from reduced charges for smelter treatment and refining as well as 15.3 MUSD in reduced logistics costs from lower concentrate volumes. Further savings not yet included in financial projections include smaller leach circuit design and lower overall operating costs from the enhanced plant design.
The reduced process volumes further increase the ESG credentials of the NVRO Process and EnviroGold Global’s social license to operate through substantial cuts in water consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions versus virgin mining. Following the process improvement work, minor plant modifications are now underway and EnviroGold Global will showcase the upgraded flowsheet in Q4 2025, supported by ANDRITZ and Hatch Pty Ltd, its newly appointed engineering and project delivery partner. ANDRITZ’s industry-leading IDEAS™ simulation software has accelerated the optimization of the proprietary NVRO process, helping to shape a more sustainable future for the mining and metals industry.
“The ANDRITZ IDEAS simulation identified an additional 232 MUSD in pre-tax, life-of-mine cash flows. This is just one example of the outstanding optimization outcomes achieved to date with only minor plant tweaks. EnviroGold Global’s pioneering ‘metals without mining’ model just became even more profitable and sustainable.”
