Integrating Sustainability Principles into Mineral Processing Plant Design

G. Corder1 and S. Green2

1. Principal Research Fellow and MAusIMM (CP), Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072. g.corder@smi.uq.edu.au 2. Managing Director, SUSOP Pty Ltd, 93 Colin Street, West Perth, WA, 6005 stevan.green@susop.com.au

ABSTRACT
Even though most major operating companies in the minerals industry have Board-level endorsed sustainability principles and objectives, design engineers typically have no mechanism that allows them to implement those objectives in their work. In addition, the existing project management systems do not readily deliver the innovative solutions needed to address key sustainability issues, such as those related to significantly reduced carbon emissions, minimal environmental impacts, and maintaining the societal licence to operate. SUSOP (SUStainable OPerations) is an approach for the integration of sustainable development principles into the design of mineral processes, which has been developed through the Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing (CSRP). Somewhat analogous to the well entrenched HAZOP (Hazard and Operability) studies, SUSOP is a holistic, systematic and rigorous mechanism for identifying and assessing sustainability opportunities and risks at each stage of project development - from corporate planning, through design and operation, to decommissioning and rehabilitation without compromising financial rigour. SUSOP was developed, tested and enhanced through its application to real case studies in the minerals industry. This development path provided significant insights into the process of identifying and evaluating opportunities for improving an operations contribution to sustainability and its long-term business case. This paper will discuss the need for a methodical approach for integrating sustainability principles into mineral processing plant design, present the key elements of SUSOP, and outline its development path through real case studies. In addition, the reasons why such an approach will have growing importance into the future will be raised.