The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Tests show BC nickel mine may absorb more CO2 than it emits Metal Tech News – June 1, 2022
Potential carbon-capturing tailings material being injected with simulated powerplant exhaust during testing in a laboratory at the University of British Columbia.
An illustration of conceptual carbon capture at a diamond or nickel mine. In addition to capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or exhaust from powerplant generation, the carbon mineralization process solidifies and stabilizes the tailings.
Recent lab tests carried out by researchers from the University of British Columbia indicate that a nickel mine at FPX Nickel Corp.'s Baptiste project in central British Columbia could absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than the CO2 that would be emitted to dig up and extract this critical ingredient of the lithium-ion batteries going into electric vehicles, home electronics, cordless power tools, and growing list of battery-powered devices.
A road-accessible project only about three miles (five kilometers) from rail and about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Fort St. James, BC, Baptiste hosts 5.37 billion pounds of nickel in 2 billion metric tons of indicated resource averaging 0.122% nickel.
A 2020 preliminary economic assessment based on this resource outlines plans for a mine that would produce an average of 99 million lb of nickel annually over 35 years.
The tailings generated from mining this nickel happen to be excellent at absorbing CO2 and turning it into a carbon mineral that locks up the greenhouse gas for perpetuity.
About 15 years ago, UBC Professor Greg Dipple realized that ultramafic rocks – igneous rock with a high magnesium and iron content – are among the largest carbon capture and storage reservoirs on Earth. The carbon-absorbing potential of these rocks, however, is limited when they are buried away from the atmosphere.
Brucite, a highly CO2-reactive mineral form of magnesium hydroxide found in the ultramafic rocks at Baptiste, is particularly good at absorbing carbon and transforming it into a solid magnesium carbonate that is stable on a geological time scale.
Mining and grinding of the nickel-enriched ultramafic rocks to a sand-like consistency during the process of recovering the lithium-ion battery metal maximizes the CO2 sequestering potential of these brucite enriched igneous rocks.
Over the past six years, FPX has been investigating the CO2 absorbing potential of a mine at Baptiste and earlier this year established CO2 Lock Corp., a subsidiary that is pursuing opportunities in large-scale, low-cost, and permanent carbon capture and storage (CCS).
"Since 2016, FPX has been a leader in defining the opportunity for large-scale permanent CCS in the mining industry," said FPX Nickel President and CEO Martin Turenne.
Previous testing conducted by UBC researchers confirmed the ability of Baptiste tailings to mineralize CO2 when exposed to air or subjected to direct injection of simulated powerplant flue gas with 10% CO2.
These tests on material from the Baptiste deposit demonstrated that every kilogram of tailings placed in a storage facility and churned for maximum exposure would absorb up to 5.8 grams of CO2 directly from the atmosphere. Even higher rates were achieved when the simulated powerplant exhaust was injected directly into the brucite-rich waste material.
The latest batch of experiments involved placing tailings samples in three vertical pipes and injecting them with simulated flue gas containing 10% CO2 for 14 days. Consistent rates of carbon mineralization, ranging from 7.3 to 8.4 grams of CO2 sequestered for each kilogram of material, were achieved in all tests. At the end of the testing, 70 to 99% of the brucite in the Baptiste tailings was consumed in the carbon mineralization reaction.
Given these positive results, FPX plans to continue testing to further understand and optimize the carbon mineralization in the Baptiste tailings. Further insights into the impacts of scale, grain size, porosity, permeability, moisture content, temperature, method of injection, CO2 concentration, and the time involved in maximizing carbon mineralization will underpin the company's efforts to optimize the CO2 absorbing potential of a future nickel mine at Baptiste.
"These new results were achieved using representative tailings material generated from the 2021 metallurgical testing pilot plant program, highlighting our interest in moving beyond idealized experimental conditions to advance the scientific understanding of carbon mineralization in a practical, real-world context," said Turenne. "With further work required to estimate the likely quantum of carbon sequestration in an operational setting, we continue to advance toward our objective of developing Baptiste as the nickel industry's first carbon-neutral or carbon-negative operation."
The company is already carrying out two larger-scale tests – a six-month experiment on roughly 2.4 metric tons of Baptiste tailings material, which is roughly eight times the scale of the previous testing; and a one-year test on approximately 300 kilograms of tailings material, designed to better understand the longer-term carbon sequestration potential of undisturbed tailings in the project region.
FPX will report the results of these experiments before the end of the year.
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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