26th International Conference on Paste, Thickened and Filtered Tailings
16–18 April 2024
We were proud to partner as a major sponsor of Paste 2024. The three-day conference was held at Melbourne’s Pullman on the Park, which enabled a large cohort of our talented staff to attend and present. Our team enjoyed making new connections at our company stand.
L-R: Behrooz, Ghahreman-Nejad, Nelson Amoah, Paul Williams, Holly Jenkinson, Keith Seddon, Behnam Pirouz, Arash Roahdieh, Genevieve New, Fook-Chi Soo, Thomas Lu, Sadegh Javadi
Sustainable Tailings Management
The first-day highlight was a Keynote Presentation from Dr Nelson Amoah, Western Australian Operations Manager and Senior Principal Engineer. Dr Amoah delivered a presentation titled, ‘The Place for Filtered Tailings in the Search for Safe and Sustainable Tailings Management.’
After the session, Nelson commented, “It was refreshing to receive such positive comments about my keynote address. It felt great to contribute to industry conversations, and it was well worth the trip from Perth”.
L-R: Dr Nelson Amoah presenting PASTE 2024
Modern Tailing Management – Ultra Paste and more
Arash Roshdieh, International Operations Manager and Senior Principal, started day two by presenting two popular papers he co-authored. Genevieve New, Principal Engineer, chaired the session and Q&A segment.
Ultra paste and central thickened discharge: a paradigm shift in tailings management
A Roshdieh, K Seddon, B Pirouz, S Javadi Rudd, P Williams
Central thickened discharge scheme for Ma’aden’s Mansourah-Massarah Gold Project
A Roshdieh, FC Soo, ATC Williams, Australia; K Zare Al Ahmadi, A Ibnu Hamdani, A Putra Ginting, R Gonzales Valdestamon, Ma’aden, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; S Javadi Rudd, M Sadeghipour, ATC Williams, Australia.
Both papers were very well received, with the audience keen to learn about the cost benefits and design options of ultra paste tailings.
L-R: Q&A following Arash’s presentation, Arash Roshdieh presenting PASTE 2024
‘I enjoyed this year’s conference, and the papers submitted for Paste are always good to read and understand,’ said Arash. ‘My presentations, especially the ultra paste paper, seemed well received. I think that consultants are eager to hear about alternatives to current practices in the market. There are many approaches to tailings management and reducing water content in tailings, with more consultants likely to use filtered tailing. However, this method may have some shortcomings in certain circumstances. The ultra paste approach can potentially increase the options for tailings management and contribute to advancing environmentally responsible mining operations.’
– Genevieve New, session chair PASTE 2024
Innovations and Research – Tailings Harvesting
On day three, Dr Behnam Pirouz, Senior Principal Engineer, joined a panel discussion on tailings harvesting for cemented paste backfill and provided project-based insights into the tailings harvesting considerations.
L-R: Ryan Veenstra, Newmont; Behnam Pirouz, ATC Williams; Leslie Correia, Paterson & Cooke; Sharyn Thacker, Newmont; Tony Grice, AMC Consultants
Zerui (Thomas) Lu, Senior Engineer at our Melbourne office, was in the crowd and said afterwards, ‘‘There were discussions on several innovative ideas regarding thickened tailing discharge and advances in the industry, which was a good sign. New research would certainly benefit the tailings industry, but we should also endeavour to put theories to the test. Nowadays, trends are moving towards dewatered tailings to control and mitigate risks as we strive to move towards safer practices. This thinking also aligns with our Ultra Paste concept presented by Arash Roshdieh, which rethinks current approaches to improve efficiency and safety.”
We look forward to contributing to Paste 2025 being hosted in Namibia next April.
