Mineral extraction under the green mining concept corresponds to target improvement in the area of engineering-design, technology use, along with the need for upgrades to personal skill-competencies. Achieving harmonious production under the green mining concept, a development framework shall happen around the organization to ensure all involved key players around the process are on the same agreed path for planning and executing the tasks. Orebody containing problematic characteristics of minerals could possibly generate a risk to the environment, respectively, due to its presence of chemical compositions. Mine planning has to be adjusted according to this potentially arising issue of negative impact on the environment, following the geochemical aspects that can influence the metal recovery process at the mill, smelter, and other final refinery facility processes. Determination of mine cut-off grade values shall correspond to the cost spending at the needs for processing of mineral. It happens through properly conducted step-activities to predict how different parts of the orebody will behave during processing. Collaboration among geologists, environmental scientists, economists, and legal or regulatory experts is needed to minimize the environmental impact while pursuing the best economic and social benefits. Sulphide mineral orebody containing large volume of pyrites, could generate Acid Metalliferous Drainage (AMD), which can harm the environment for not being properly handled them from the first place. The case review of the Grasberg orebody provides a good lesson learned on the way to set up the activity process, aiming to meet the target of the green mining concept. The integration of mine planning and ore processing for properly and effectively handling the pyrites would become a reference of framework to extract minerals within the same type of sulphide orebody. The new technology implemented covers work around underground mine planning and robust engineering design for properly sequencing the underground block cave mine. Installing new additional SAG and copper cleaner circuits properly allows for segregation and carefully manages the pyrites. The harmony plan for mining operation can be achieved by applying the robust framework to ensure that decisions made in one area consider the impacts on others. This paper aims to adopt best practices from the Grasberg orebody and recommend a suitable framework for the green mining concept, considering the complexity of the orebody’s geometallurgy.
Keywords—Green Mining, Geometallurgy, Sulphide Orebody, Engineering Framework, Acid Metalliferous Drainage.
