Reducing water treatment costs while meeting the challenge of environmental compliance for the mining industry.

Processes are described that have been developed by BioteQ Environmental Technologies to produce treated water that can be safely discharged to the environment or recycled and saleable metal products such as Zn, Cu, Ni and Co to help offset treatment costs. In the BioSulphide process H2S is generated by the reduction of elemental S in an aerobic bioreactor and used to selectively precipitate heavy metals such as Cu, Zn, Ni and Co in an agitated contactor reactor. The metal sulphides are recovered by clarification and filtration. The ChemSulphide process uses chemical sulphide reagent and is employed in smaller applications. Benefits of the process are illustrated with reference to its use at the Raglan mine in Canada. Pilot studies have been completed of an ion exchange-based technology for sulphate removal from mine wastewater to meet stricter effluent sulphate limits or for process water recycling.
Processes are described that have been developed by BioteQ Environmental Technologies to produce treated water that can be safely discharged to the environment or recycled and saleable metal products such as Zn, Cu, Ni and Co to help offset treatment costs. In the BioSulphide process H2S is generated by the reduction of elemental S in an aerobic bioreactor and used to selectively precipitate heavy metals such as Cu, Zn, Ni and Co in an agitated contactor reactor. The metal sulphides are recovered by clarification and filtration. The ChemSulphide process uses chemical sulphide reagent and is employed in smaller applications. Benefits of the process are illustrated with reference to its use at the Raglan mine in Canada. Pilot studies have been completed of an ion exchange-based technology for sulphate removal from mine wastewater to meet stricter effluent sulphate limits or for process water recycling.