Is operationalising natural capital risk assessment practicable?
- Ascui, Francisco, Ball, Alex, Kahn, Lewis, Rowe, James
- Authors: Ascui, Francisco , Ball, Alex , Kahn, Lewis , Rowe, James
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ecosystem Services Vol. 52, no. (2021), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Financial institutions are indirectly exposed to risks associated with the impacts and dependencies on natural capital and ecosystem services of the companies that they invest in, lend to, and insure. This is particularly true for banks lending to agriculture: a sector with both significant impacts and critical dependencies on natural capital. Bank lending is a vital source of new finance for the sector, which is essential to achieve sustainable intensification targets. Yet current credit decision-making practice is still based on conventional financial and management indicators, lacking any systematic assessment of natural capital risks, especially those associated with dependencies. Operationalising natural capital risk assessment requires practicable indicators and data to evaluate the most material natural capital risks for a given sub-sector and geography, but it is unclear to what extent these are available. We assess the practicability of natural capital dependency risk indicators and data sources for a critical case study of Australian sheep production. We find that at least moderately practicable indicators and data sources are available to assess the 11 major dependency risks that are material for this industry. Challenges remain in determining risk thresholds for most indicators, and quantifying risk impacts on profitability. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.
- Authors: Ascui, Francisco , Ball, Alex , Kahn, Lewis , Rowe, James
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ecosystem Services Vol. 52, no. (2021), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Financial institutions are indirectly exposed to risks associated with the impacts and dependencies on natural capital and ecosystem services of the companies that they invest in, lend to, and insure. This is particularly true for banks lending to agriculture: a sector with both significant impacts and critical dependencies on natural capital. Bank lending is a vital source of new finance for the sector, which is essential to achieve sustainable intensification targets. Yet current credit decision-making practice is still based on conventional financial and management indicators, lacking any systematic assessment of natural capital risks, especially those associated with dependencies. Operationalising natural capital risk assessment requires practicable indicators and data to evaluate the most material natural capital risks for a given sub-sector and geography, but it is unclear to what extent these are available. We assess the practicability of natural capital dependency risk indicators and data sources for a critical case study of Australian sheep production. We find that at least moderately practicable indicators and data sources are available to assess the 11 major dependency risks that are material for this industry. Challenges remain in determining risk thresholds for most indicators, and quantifying risk impacts on profitability. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.
Characterization and recovery of gold associated with fine, activated carbon
- Rowe, James, McKnight, Stafford
- Authors: Rowe, James , McKnight, Stafford
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at World Gold Conference 2009, Johannesburg, South Africa : 26th-30th October 2009
- Full Text:
- Description: The attrition of activated carbon, and the loss of gold associated with it, is of significant economic importance to the operation of a CIP/CIL circuit. The focus of this study was on activated carbon recovered from an elution circuit which was deemed too fine for reuse. Results of cyclosizer and laser particle size analysis identified that most of the carbon was contained in the larger size fraction suggesting formation by abrasion. Digestion and AAS analysis of the individual size fractions identified a disproportionate concentration of gold in the finer size fractions which was identified by scanning electron microscopy to be due to the presence of fine metallic gold formed as a result of the acid washing process. Attempts to strip the remaining gold using sodium hydroxide or sodium sulphide based solutions proved unsuccessful due to poor elution efficiencies and re adsorption of gold. Upgrading of the material by froth flotation was also investigated using various conventional flotation reagents which had some success in concentrating the free metallic gold, however, grade and/or recoveries were considered less than desirable. Greater success was ultimately found in the transfer of gold from the fine carbon material onto coarser virgin activated carbon using a caustic cyanide solution. Sodium sulphide, sodium chloride and ammonium chloride based solutions were also trialled but proved less successful owing to their inability to mobilise metallic gold or gold cyanide species. Repetition of the transfer process proved capable of stripping 97% of the gold contained on the carbon fines for a bed volume ratio of 6:1.
- Description: 2003007482
- Authors: Rowe, James , McKnight, Stafford
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at World Gold Conference 2009, Johannesburg, South Africa : 26th-30th October 2009
- Full Text:
- Description: The attrition of activated carbon, and the loss of gold associated with it, is of significant economic importance to the operation of a CIP/CIL circuit. The focus of this study was on activated carbon recovered from an elution circuit which was deemed too fine for reuse. Results of cyclosizer and laser particle size analysis identified that most of the carbon was contained in the larger size fraction suggesting formation by abrasion. Digestion and AAS analysis of the individual size fractions identified a disproportionate concentration of gold in the finer size fractions which was identified by scanning electron microscopy to be due to the presence of fine metallic gold formed as a result of the acid washing process. Attempts to strip the remaining gold using sodium hydroxide or sodium sulphide based solutions proved unsuccessful due to poor elution efficiencies and re adsorption of gold. Upgrading of the material by froth flotation was also investigated using various conventional flotation reagents which had some success in concentrating the free metallic gold, however, grade and/or recoveries were considered less than desirable. Greater success was ultimately found in the transfer of gold from the fine carbon material onto coarser virgin activated carbon using a caustic cyanide solution. Sodium sulphide, sodium chloride and ammonium chloride based solutions were also trialled but proved less successful owing to their inability to mobilise metallic gold or gold cyanide species. Repetition of the transfer process proved capable of stripping 97% of the gold contained on the carbon fines for a bed volume ratio of 6:1.
- Description: 2003007482
Current and future applications of micro-organisms to mineral processing
- Authors: Rowe, James
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at 4th International Conference on Recent Advances in Materials, Minerals, Environment and 2nd Asian Symposium on Materials and Processing, RAMM & ASMP '09, Batu Feringghi, Penang, Malaysia : 1st-3rd June 2009
- Full Text:
- Description: One of the major issues faced by the minerals industry is the increasing restriction in the use and release of chemical compounds detrimental to the environment or to the health and safety of workers. Some biological processes have already been successfully adopted with technologies such as the bacterial oxidation or refractory sulphides and the degradation of cyanide compounds in tailings. Their full potential however has not yet been fully explored, due largely to a lack of interaction between the fields of mineral processing and microbiology. This paper outlines the basic principles behind those biological processes which have been adapted for minerals processing, as well as those that may have potential application in the future.
- Description: 2003007483
- Authors: Rowe, James
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at 4th International Conference on Recent Advances in Materials, Minerals, Environment and 2nd Asian Symposium on Materials and Processing, RAMM & ASMP '09, Batu Feringghi, Penang, Malaysia : 1st-3rd June 2009
- Full Text:
- Description: One of the major issues faced by the minerals industry is the increasing restriction in the use and release of chemical compounds detrimental to the environment or to the health and safety of workers. Some biological processes have already been successfully adopted with technologies such as the bacterial oxidation or refractory sulphides and the degradation of cyanide compounds in tailings. Their full potential however has not yet been fully explored, due largely to a lack of interaction between the fields of mineral processing and microbiology. This paper outlines the basic principles behind those biological processes which have been adapted for minerals processing, as well as those that may have potential application in the future.
- Description: 2003007483
Mechanical activation of minerals - Past, present and future?
- Welham, Nicholas, Rowe, James
- Authors: Welham, Nicholas , Rowe, James
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at 4th International Conference on Recent Advances in Materials, Minerals, Environment and 2nd Asian Symposium on Materials and Processing, RAMM & ASMP '09, Batu Feringghi, Penang, Malaysia : 1st-3rd June 2009
- Full Text:
- Description: Mechanical activation of materials, including minerals, has been an area of increasing interest in the past twenty years due to the unusual effects that can be obtained by extended milling. One apparent flaw in much of the research is the use of activation devices which are not available at the scale required for industrialization of production. A review of the effects of activation is made and a critical assessment of the key requirements for commercialization of MA processes is made.
- Description: 2003007452
- Authors: Welham, Nicholas , Rowe, James
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at 4th International Conference on Recent Advances in Materials, Minerals, Environment and 2nd Asian Symposium on Materials and Processing, RAMM & ASMP '09, Batu Feringghi, Penang, Malaysia : 1st-3rd June 2009
- Full Text:
- Description: Mechanical activation of materials, including minerals, has been an area of increasing interest in the past twenty years due to the unusual effects that can be obtained by extended milling. One apparent flaw in much of the research is the use of activation devices which are not available at the scale required for industrialization of production. A review of the effects of activation is made and a critical assessment of the key requirements for commercialization of MA processes is made.
- Description: 2003007452
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