TOMRA: How Mining Waste Becomes Profit With Sorting Tech

Mining waste represents one of the European Union's largest waste streams, according to the European Commission.

This waste can contain dangerous substances, and inadequate management could lead to severe consequences for both people and the environment.

However, TOMRA is working with mining companies to transform this waste into clean, profitable infrastructure materials.

The mining industry is increasingly focused on enhancing sustainable operations, which makes mining waste a growing concern across the EU. This waste results from extracting and processing mineral resources, producing materials such as tailings, waste rock and topsoil overburden – the layer of soil and vegetation that must be stripped away to access minerals beneath.

Certain waste materials contain dangerous substances, including heavy metals, which could cause acid or alkaline drainage. Additionally, tailings management presents risks, as the material is stored in heaps that could collapse, potentially impacting human health, the environment and the economy.

However, opportunities exist within this waste stream through improved sorting capabilities and previously overlooked innovations. TOMRA, a global leader in sensor-based sorting, reverse vending and recycling solutions, is helping mining companies worldwide recover these 'waste' resources. This approach is driving sustainable critical mineral production, improving efficiency and extending mine life.

Addressing operational costs

Mining operations produce substantial quantities of waste rock, which must be transported over large distances, stockpiled or dumped, then monitored for decades. This creates major operational, financial and environmental costs.

Mines import materials for plant foundations, tailings dams and other infrastructure, despite generating substantial waste. In remote regions particularly, transporting these materials can prove expensive, adding significant costs to infrastructure projects.

TOMRA suggests that much of the waste rock possesses the capability and strength required for construction work. It has often been dismissed due to sulphides and acid-forming material, yet these can be removed to produce clean and stable materials.

TOMRA Mining's sensor-based sorting technology aims to unlock this potential. The technology enables mining operations to reassess their waste streams and identify valuable materials that were previously overlooked.

Clean waste stream production

The sorting process enables mines to remove acid-forming material from waste rock using X-ray transmission (XRT) sorting, which can detect fine-grained inclusions like base metal sulphides. Once acid-forming particles are removed from the feed stream, the low-sulphide material can be managed through secure long-term storage, sold as aggregate or used on-site.

This unlocks untapped resource value to drive a circular economy. By recovering and utilising waste or selling it for profit, mining companies can achieve cost savings or generate additional revenue streams, resulting in more efficient and less expensive operations.

The technology provides mining operations with precise control over material quality. This ensures that waste streams meet environmental standards whilst maximising the value extracted from every tonne of material processed.

"We are able to recover more metal from the same amount of material," explains Rasoul Rezai, Global Segment Manager-Metals at TOMRA Mining.

"By rejecting waste early, operators feed higher-grade material into their mills, reduce operational expenditure and improve overall efficiency. This is particularly crucial for critical minerals, where supply tensions are increasing worldwide."

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Generating additional revenue

TOMRA's XRT sorting offers confidence and control for mining leaders, providing data to optimise material management. At Kensington Mine in Alaska, the XRT sorting helps convert clean waste into usable material whilst simultaneously enhancing gold recovery and supporting environmentally responsible tailings management.

"In the latest publicly available technical report, 4,216 ounces of gold were recovered from the pebble sorting operation in one year," Jordan Rutledge, Area Sales Manager at TOMRA Mining, explains.

"At January 2026 gold prices, that represents almost US$20m in recovered value – whilst still producing a clean, low-sulphide waste stream that can be safely placed or reused. That combination is what makes sorting so compelling for customers."

Other mining operations have experienced benefits from TOMRA's sorting capabilities. At the Mt Carbine operation in Queensland, Australia, TOMRA XRT is being used to process tungsten-bearing ore, generating a barren waste stream that is being repurposed and sold as aggregate.

By selling this material – once considered waste – the mine has implemented circularity and gained untapped revenue. Through sorting, transporting, selling and reusing this 'waste', mines worldwide are extending their operational lifespan and implementing a circular economy, ensuring resilience, sustainability and cost savings across the supply chain.

Traditionally, operations have operated on a simple equation: ore generates profit, waste generates cost. Sensor-based sorting breaks that model, enabling mines to unlock new business models through fresh insights about waste management and potential.

TOMRA Mining is helping mines worldwide to reassess their approach to waste streams. The company's technology demonstrates that what was once considered a costly burden can become a valuable resource, supporting both environmental goals and financial performance.