Minerals Recovery of Copper Mine Tailings on Lake Superior Coastline for Use as Raw Material in the Manufacture of Roofing Shingles

Over the past 150 years, copper mining in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan has resulted in the accumulation of approximately one-half giga tons of tailing piles. These wastes occur both on the upland and in the lakes and waterway and occur in a number of forms. Today these tailings are drifting along the lakeshore and affecting the beauty of the otherwise pristine coastline of Lake Superior, depreciating the value of the land and hindering development efforts. Lisktech Limited, in alliance with the Institute of Materials Processing (IMP), Michigan Technological University, will beneficiate the copper mine tailings know as stamp sands into a value-added product, G-SandTM, for use as a head lap granule in the manufacturing of roofing shingles. Lesktech Limited is NOT addressing the copper smelting slag stamp sands that were identified as an EPS Superfund Site in the Torch Lake area. At the present time, mining of hard rock for the roofing granule market is occurring, however, production is at a shortfall for the total market demand required to adequately supply roofing shingle manufacturing companies. It is estimated the energy demands for the grinding and processing for producing granules at the appropriate sizes exceeds $6.00/ton. The stamp-sand materials are already crushed to this particle size lending to a overall energy savings of $600,000.00 USD per 100,000 tons of materials utilized while benefiting the environment by removing an undesirable product from the shorelines of Lake Superior. In addition, granule manufactures add cooper as an algae deterrent to their roofing granule particles, a costly application. The basalt rock stamp-sands have a minute amount of naturally occurring metallic copper with the rock matrix. Initial studies by IMP have qualitatively proved that the basaltic stamp-sand exhibits algae deterrence and the necessity of further investigation are apparent with the scope of work proposed within this article. It is Lesktechs mission, along with research excellence of IMP, to identify a substantial amount of the basalt rock stamp-sand suitable to serve the roofing granule marked. Along with the research efforts of IMP, Lesktech will approach the research departments of the major granule roofing shingle companies and form strategic alliances to produce a synergetic affect that will allow these companies an avenue to fulfill the increasing demand for a quality granule product. Shipping large volume amount of materials is by far the most efficient when using Great Lake shipping vessels or barge compartmental vessels.