Tarachi Gold intends to reprocess historic tailings at its Magistral mill in Mexico. The company estimates that the tailings contain approximately 85,000 ounces of gold. Courtesy of Tarachi Gold

A perfect storm of financial, environmental and social drivers is motivating mining companies to reprocess old tailings. Squeezing more metal out of these accessible, low-grade ore deposits not only generates income but helps reshape the social and environmental legacy of older operations and the industry as a whole.