HAZARDOUS WASTE SOLUTIONS

Mining

CHALLENGES FACING THE MINING INDUSTRY

  • Significant legacy waste and tailings dam stockpiles due to lack of industrial scale domestic solution.
  • Emerging markets such as “battery minerals” can result in large volumes of waste by-product that require disposal.
  • Ageing infrastructure requiring appropriate decommissioning.
  • ‘Chain of Responsibility’ legislation is increasing additional company, director and employee liability.
  • Australian Accounting Standards Board – Standard 137 (AASB 137) and International Accounting Standards Board – Standard 37 (IASB 37) accounting practices are now exposing the size of the waste problem in relation to contingent liabilities.
  • Increasing focus on corporate reputation.
  • Increasing regulatory requirements.

TYPICAL HAZARDOUS WASTE STREAMS

  • Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM)
  • Sealed radioactive sources (SRS)
  • Asbestos contaminated material (ACM)
  • Arsenic
  • Cyanide
  • Mercury
  • Lead
  • Refractory waste
  • Laboratory waste
  • PCB oils
  • Mine tailings
  • Processing by-products
  • Contaminated soils

KEY CLIENT BENEFITS

Tellus offers simple, safe and cost-effective storage, treatment and permanent isolation (disposal) solutions for hazardous wastes.

Features and benefits include:

Quality

  • Australia’s first best practice permanent solution for legacy, production and emerging waste streams across all sectors.

  • Due to Sandy Ridge’s superior site selection and multi-barrier safety case, waste is permanently isolated from the biosphere over geological time (millions of years).

  • International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) accreditation and compliance: ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environment) and ISO 45001 (Health & Safety).
Commercial and risk transfer

  • Tellus is the only company that can issue a valuable Permanent Isolation Certificate (Tellus PICTM).
  • A Tellus PICTM certifies critical facts that provides a basis for derecognising a liability provision on financial statements under Australian Accounting Standards Board (ASSB) accounting standard AASB 137.
  • Adequate assurance and insurance (agreed with the regulators and international peer reviewed).
  • Risk and title transfer to Tellus on the issue of a waste acceptance notice.
  • When waste is removed from a client’s site, benefits are also recognised in a reduction to health, safety, environmental, community and compliance risk.
Functionality

  • Broad range of waste acceptance (hazardous waste and low level radioactive waste (LLW)).
  • Can accept liquid, sludge and solid waste.
  • Can provide one-stop-shop solution (facilitate pre-gate services with approved waste characterisation, packaging and transport providers).
Sandy Ridge
availability and
innovation

  • Licenced capacity of 100 ktpa for 25 years.
  • Facility is operationally available throughout the year
  • Innovative cell airdome improves overall safety, productivity and allows all-weather use.
Regulatory
approvals and
licensing

  • Commonwealth, state and local government approvals and licensing for Sandy Ridge facility that support a near-surface clay geological repository with unique site selection characteristics and a robust safety case.
  • Tellus’ Sandy Ridge and Chandler geological repositories are the only waste facilities in Australia that have been awarded Major Project Facilitation (MPF) status by the Australian Government.
Price

  • Tellus’ waste services are cost effective and provide long-term cost certainty.