Mining giant Anglo American partners for pyrolysis of its rubber waste
Anglo American Feedstock for Pyrolysis
Mining conglomerate Anglo American has announced that it is to address the issue of waste OTR tyres and conveyor belting in its mines.
The feedstock comes from Anglo American’s five metallurgical coal mines in central Queensland and be distributed to Novum Energy Australia, which will convert the rubber into heavy and light oils, recovered Carbon Black, syngas, and steel.
This is part of the wider Anglo-American Sustainable Mining Plan, which includes the intelligent disposal of waste as part in the company’s broader goal for carbon neutrality across its operations by 2040.
Anglo American metallurgical coal chief executive officer Tyler Mitchelson said the partnership represents his company’s embrace of circular economy opportunities.
“We have the opportunity to play a role in reshaping the economy towards a more sustainable path and contribute to creating new industries in the region,” he said.
“The new facility is located in the Banana Shire where our Dawson metallurgical coal mine is located.”
Novum will begin construction on a thermal recovery processing facility within the Biloela Industrial Estate, a first-of-its-kind plant in Queensland set to employ up to twenty-five full-time staff once fully operational.
“Our partnership with Anglo American has enabled Novum to construct this industry-first technology in regional Queensland which will be able to process up to 8000 tonnes of waste tyres and conveyor belts each year from 2022,” Novum managing director Rowan Kendall said.
“By applying a thermo vacuum technology we aim to use the gas recovered from recycling the rubber to generate electricity to supply power to the processing plant and surplus electricity to EV (electric vehicle) charging stations to be built onsite.”
Source: Australian Mining
