As South African mining companies navigate the complexities caused by decades of intensive extraction, which have significantly reduced the availability of the world’s richest and most accessible high-grade ore deposits, South African research and development organisation Mintek has created MinBind as a novel inorganic binder – a non-organic chemical additive – to unlock the value of low-grade ore resources.

In a media release, Mintek notes that improved permeability and heap stability mean higher recovery efficiency from underused ores, saying MinBind delivers real gains.

With ore grades dropping globally, the organisation says this innovation is key to keeping heap leaching viable, both economically and environmentally.

This matters hugely amid booming demand for critical minerals and rare earth elements, the building blocks of electronics, batteries and clean energy technology such as electric vehicles and solar panels, says Mintek.

In clay-rich, low-permeability ores, trapped solutions cause severe slumping: height losses of 10% to 15%. This stalls the chemical reactions needed for metal extraction.

MinBind cuts slumping to below 5%, even in the toughest cases, Mintek states.

Mintek Biometallurgy division technical specialist Dr Stefan Robertson explains that MinBind was designed to work with the ore rather than against it, providing low-grade materials with the structure needed to perform like high-grade ore without compromising recovery chemistry.

“The MinBind inorganic binder technology marks a significant advancement in heap leaching efficiency, allowing low-permeability, low-grade ores to yield their value while maintaining heap integrity and reducing slumping to below 5%, a benchmark for future metallurgical innovation,” says Robertson.

Mintek CEO Dr Molefi Motuku notes that, with ore grades declining globally, low-grade ores represent a massive untapped opportunity to revitalise productivity.

“Addressing these productivity gains is a global priority in the minerals and mining sector, and revitalising the South African mining and minerals sector presents a key opportunity for Mintek.

“By focusing on technologies that improve recovery rates from low-grade ores, the resources of tomorrow, Mintek is at the forefront of transforming core processes in mineral processing and fulfilling the global mandate of increasing productivity gains,” says Motuku.