The Challenge sees Rio Tinto and Boliden working in collaboration with OZ Minerals to eliminate, minimise, reuse, or find new value in mine tailings and ultimately reduce the global carbon footprint of the mining industry, Draslovka said in a news release.

The Waste-to-Value Challenge aims to unlock innovative technologies for managing tailings, helping the mining industry to reduce risk while extracting more of the materials the world needs from what was previously regarded as waste for the energy transition at large. The initiative hopes to deliver include lower emissions and reduced waste.

Draslovka’s glycine leaching technology — GlyLeach and GlyCat Processes is an alternative to traditional acid and cyanide leaching. Due to its selectivity over gangue minerals and the recyclability of glycine, it enables the recovery of both base and precious metals from lower grade resources like tailings.

This leads to a more sustainable production process and improved economics that are needed to close the looming critical metal supply deficit, the company said.