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Sefar is bringing filter-media selection, testing and technical support together to help miners improve the consistency and operating economics of tailings dewatering.
A filter press may command attention through its size, but the fabric concealed between its plates can determine how efficiently a mine recovers water and prepares tailings for their next stage.
Mine tailings rarely fail to make an impression. They occupy land, retain water and remain long after the valuable mineral has left the processing plant, and yet one of the components influencing how safely and efficiently that material can be managed is far less visible: the filter cloth inside the dewatering equipment.
Sefar believes that the interface between the slurry and the machine is where a tailings strategy becomes an operational outcome.
“We are committed to responsible tailings management and to partnering with our customers to achieve the best possible outcomes. We see it as our duty to contribute meaningfully to environmental protection,” Sefar industry manager for minerals Sandrine Forsoni said.
A filter press may provide the mechanical force, but its media determine how solids are retained, how readily water passes through and how cleanly the resulting cake is released.
Those functions are becoming more important as water scarcity, evolving regulation and closer scrutiny of tailings safety encourage miners to consider filtered tailings and dry stacking.
Reliable dewatering can reduce the volume of water reporting to storage, recover process water for reuse and produce a more consistent cake for subsequent handling.
Coal, alumina and metalliferous operations can present markedly different slurries, while particle-size distribution, solids concentration, mineralogy and upstream process conditions may change within an individual site.
Equipment type, production targets and the moisture level required from the cake add further variables. This makes the filter cloth an application decision rather than a consumable chosen in isolation.
Sefar supplies media for several filtration technologies, including filter presses, vacuum belt filters and belt presses, with filter presses forming a focus of its tailings work.
“By applying our specialised expertise and capabilities, we help customers reduce their environmental footprint through maximised dewatering efficiency, superior filtration performance, and the longest possible product lifetimes,” Forsoni said.
A longer-lasting cloth can also reduce the frequency of shutdowns and maintenance interventions. Higher filtration capacity can support shorter cycles and more stable throughput.
Lower cake moisture can increase water recovery and improve the material’s suitability for dry stacking. Together, these outcomes affect equipment availability, operating cost and the stability of the downstream tailings process.
Reaching that balance begins with understanding the slurry and the operating conditions. Sefar combines process analysis with laboratory and filter-media testing to investigate filtration problems and establish their root causes.
Slurry characteristics and particle-size distribution form part of that work, as do the construction of the fabric and the finish applied to its surface.
Application-specific media, fabric designs and surface finishes can be used to influence filtration capacity, cake discharge, service life and water recovery, but the most suitable combination depends on the equipment, slurry and performance priorities.
“Our starting point is to understand the customer’s process and the impact of the slurry type, equipment and operating conditions,” Forsoni said.
“Based on that initial analysis, and the customer’s needs and priorities, we select the optimal fabric and the most appropriate design.”
Sefar’s approach pairs local technical support with access to global application, laboratory and manufacturing resources. Its manufacturing is integrated from yarn to finished filter cloth, allowing the company to consider the properties of the filtration media through the production chain.
The value of this support is most evident when improved filtration leads to fewer interventions and more productive cycles. One Sefar customer, using a filter press for iron ore tailings, achieved substantially longer cloth life and a dramatic increase in the number of filtration cycles after their filter fabric was optimised – far exceeding their expectations.
The result was a major extension of cloth life and a significant reduction in filter cloth changeouts. At the same time, the operation maintained consistent cake moisture and reliable cake discharge.
Fewer replacements reduced maintenance demands, while the longer operating intervals supported higher productivity and lower operating costs.
The example shows why the lifetime of cloth cannot be considered in isolation from the broader process.
Each avoided change removes a maintenance task and returns time to production, but longevity is only useful if filtration capacity, cake moisture, and discharge remain within the required range.
Water recovery provides another important link between filtration and mine performance. Water that passes through the filter can be returned to the process, reducing freshwater demand. The benefit varies by site and flowsheet, but it means dewatering contributes more than just preparing the final tailings product.
Consistent cake properties also influence what happens after filtration. Filtered material must be discharged, transported and placed, so unreliable release or variable moisture can create problems beyond the press.
A filtration solution needs to be considered in the context of the complete tailings-handling system rather than judged only at the point where the filtrate leaves the equipment.
This systems view is especially relevant when mines are assessing dry stacking. Filtration does not by itself determine the safety or performance of a tailings facility, but consistent dewatering can support the stable handling and placement conditions on which the method depends.
It also changes how filter media are evaluated, with total cost of ownership also accounting for the labour and downtime required for cloth changes, cycle performance, equipment availability and the value of recovered water.
A lower-cost cloth may prove more expensive if it requires more frequent changes or limits throughput. Ore characteristics and plant conditions can change, while production targets may place different demands on the filtration circuit. Rapid technical support and coordinated access to specialists allow performance to be reassessed when the operating window shifts.
As miners seek to recover more water, reduce intervention, and build consistency in filtered tailings, attention is shifting deeper into the dewatering process.
This feature appeared in the November 2026 edition of Australian Mining.