Mineralogy
Mineral form (sulfide, oxide, native), optical and electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction. Tells how the metal is locked into the matrix.
Every tailings body has a DNA. We read it.
Virgin ore is mined without anyone knowing, with precision, what lies inside each cubic meter. Tailings are different: already processed, already read, already carrying history. With the Green Mining system, the read is complete — and the precision on financial potential comes with it.
Technical contrast
Tailings read better than an orebody.
In virgin ore, heterogeneity is hidden inside the volume — large blocks of unknown composition until the bench is mined. Exploration programs spend years and millions on drilling to reduce uncertainty, and even then operate with wide confidence intervals.
In tailings, the matrix has already gone through crushing, grinding, and a flotation route. It is in fine particle size, homogenized in pile or dam, and came from an operation that recorded the chemistry it used and the recovery it obtained.
Reading tailings, therefore, is not assumption — it is reconstruction. With a representative sample, we run mineralogical, chemical, particle-size, and flotation-response characterization — and we can infer, with a narrow confidence interval, how much metal the tailings still carry, in what form, and how much the Green Mining system can recover.
The asset's DNA
Four reads compose the DNA.
Chemistry
Full elemental analysis (ICP-MS, fluorescence), grade determination by commodity, mapping of penalty contaminants. Tells how much and what else is there.
Particle size
Size distribution, liberation by fraction. Tells where the metal is — ultra-fine slimes, intermediate band, or coarse particles originally under-ground.
Response
Bench and pilot flotation tests with Green Mining chemistry. Tells how much the system recovers from this specific tailings body.
Methodology
Why 2 tons is enough.
It is the minimum statistically representative quantity for a well-characterized tailings deposit. We collect following standard sampling protocol — multiple points, multiple depths, quartering and homogenization.
At the Green Mining pilot plant in Brazil, 2 tons is enough to run:
- Full characterization (mineralogy + chemistry + particle size) on a controlled subsample.
- Bench flotation tests to calibrate reagents and configuration.
- Continuous pilot run in a plant whose configuration is comparable to industrial scale.
The output is a dataset with auditable traceability — the same standard as the UBC validation + SGS audit that backs our public claims.
NoteIf the asset is an orebody still in operation, the sample can come from the run-of-mine (ROM) of the mine itself — same quantity, same protocol, same traceability. What matters is the statistical representativeness of the material that will be processed.
Pipeline
Five stages. 30 days.
01
Intake — Entry protocol, chain-of-custody verification, identified storage. 1 business day after arrival.
02
Characterization — Physical preparation, mineralogical analysis, elemental chemistry, particle size, and bench flotation tests. 5 business days.
03
Pilot run — Processing the sample in the Green Mining plant with preliminary route configuration. Measurement of recovery, concentrate grade, reagent consumption. 7 to 12 business days, depending on mineralogical complexity.
04
Financial modeling — With recoverable grade and estimated deposit mass, we build the value model: revenue per cycle, required CAPEX, payback period, sensitivities. 3 to 5 business days.
05
Assessment report — Final delivery: full technical dossier + financial model + commercial format proposal (acquisition, JV, royalty, operation). 30 calendar days from sample intake.
From sample to priced number in 30 days. While traditional mining spends years saying "maybe".
Deliverable
One report. Four outputs.
Projected recovery
Expected percentage by commodity, with declared confidence interval. No loose numbers — every figure carries the technical traceability that supports it.
Auditable financial model
Spreadsheet with revenue, CAPEX, OPEX, NPV, payback per scenario. Assumption sources traced, methodology described — ready for external due diligence.
Commercial proposal
Which of the four formats makes most sense for this specific asset: tailings acquisition, operational JV, royalty, or operation under contract. With proposed terms.
Technical report
Full dossier with characterization data, for internal decision and third-party due diligence. Under NDA, but the document stays with the mining company — it is theirs.
Close
Uncertainty, converted into a priced asset.
Before delivering the sample, the mining company knows approximately what it has. After the Green Mining assessment, it knows precisely how much it's worth.
Traditional mining spends years saying "maybe". Green Mining delivers a number in 30 days — with auditable traceability, not guesswork.
That is what we sell: conversion of tailings uncertainty into a priced asset.