• Key Process makes it possible to optimize resources, reduce raw material consumption and use residues.
• The startup won the 2021 edition in the Environment and Sustainability category

Key Process Spa Company, a Chilean startup with presence in Peru managed to give value to the tailings (mining residues) through the development of technological solutions to concentrate minerals, recovering copper, gold, silver, zinc and others. This proposal was presented in the PERUMIN Hub contest and was the winner in the Environment and Sustainability category.

The CEO of Key Process, Christian Mercado, commented that in the flotation process (separation of minerals) additional resources may be extracted using the Key Flote technology developed by its work team. It consists in generating foams that separate the minerals and trap certain resources using air bubbles. In this way, material that had been discarded in the tailings may be recovered.

“Through circular economy we promote the optimization of resources, the reduction of raw material consumption and the use of the residues. Furthermore, our model and value proposal enable us to increase global metallurgical recovery, reduce metal content in tailings, reuse water in a closed circuit and optimize the use of flotation reagents, in a low-risk technical proposal”, added Mercado.

Along that same line, it is worth mentioning that the technology designed by the startup does not need to modify or affect the production process of the mining companies and it is easy to implement. In addition, the design and combination of mechanical elements make it possible to collect minerals more efficiently, it is highly selective and versatile, ideal for the treatment of tailings from different minerals and processes.

Key Process won the 2021 PERUMIN HUB edition, the leading open innovation program in the country that seeks solutions to the great challenges that emerge in the mining sector through collaborative innovation, organized by the Peruvian Institute of Mining Engineers (IIMP) and the Mining Innovation Hub.