Around the Company in Pictures: Turning Tailings Into Treasure

March 7, 2024 - Visitors to the most recent Tucson Gem and Mineral Show in Arizona – one of the largest such shows in the world – learned about the many uses for tailings, the material left over from the processing of mined ore.

Members of Freeport-McMoRan’s Sustainable Development team participated in the annual four-day show for the first time as part of an effort to demonstrate the potential for tailings to be transformed into a wide range of market-viable products.

Tailings melt into a dark glass, which can be used to produce items such as bricks, tiles, counter tops, fireplace beads, fibers, bottles and tableware. Thanks to its dark color, the glass also is ultraviolet protective. Handmade artistic applications include jewelry, awards, drawer knobs and sculptures. Most items on display at the show were produced from tailings from the company’s Sierrita site in southern Arizona, and were composed of 80 percent tailings.

Formed products such as bricks, pavers and aggregate also were part of the display. Throughout the years, formed products also have been made with tailings from company sites around the world. The team is exploring pilot production of formed products to better understand the revenue potential for the company in that area. The pricing of the company’s formed products has proven to be competitive with some of the large home improvement retailers, said Stefka Ormsby, Senior Research Engineer-Sustainable Development.

Photos (clockwise): Ormsby shows the products displayed at the show; a decorative pumpkin formed from firepit glass; a cup filled with aggregate made from tailings from the company’s Henderson site in Colorado; and decorative glass tiles featuring the company logo and small round samples showing some of the color options for the formed products.