Picko Global’s circular resource recovery: design and risk notes for mine planners
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on Australian Mining
30 Second Briefing
Picko Global is expanding a circular resource recovery model that processes mine tailings and waste rock through modular plants in Southern Africa to extract residual metals and construction aggregates. The company uses mobile crushing, screening and dense media separation units to treat legacy dumps and current waste streams, targeting fine fractions often bypassed by conventional concentrators. For mine operators, the approach offers potential reductions in tailings storage volumes and rehabilitation liabilities while generating saleable products from previously stranded material.
Technical Brief
- Modular plants are containerised and skid-mounted, allowing rapid relocation between dumps without permanent civils.
- Processing circuits are configured to be power-agnostic, running on either grid, diesel or hybrid supply.
- Plants are designed to sit on existing disturbed footprints, avoiding new greenfield land take and permitting.
- Water circuits emphasise high recirculation, with make-up water sourced from existing mine process streams where possible.
Our Take
Among the 298 sustainability‑tagged pieces in our database, very few focus on dedicated recovery plants like the Picko Global recovery plant, signalling that purpose‑built circular facilities are still niche compared with mine‑site retrofits in Australia.
Locating a recovery plant in Australia but targeting material streams from Southern Africa suggests a cross‑regional logistics and regulatory challenge, with potential exposure to differing waste classifications and export rules for secondary resources.
For Australian Mining’s readership, a standalone recovery plant model such as Picko Global’s could become a template for juniors seeking lower‑capex entry into the sector by processing third‑party residues rather than developing greenfield ore bodies.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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