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Synthetic Water Calibration for Water Quality Parameters & Water Treatment Program Validation

Tailings and Mine Waste Conference (2019 : Vancouver, B.C.); University of British Columbia. Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering

To support the Environmental Assessment (EA) of a new gold mine project in BC, McCue completed the preliminary design of a mine water treatment plant (WTP) using a water profile modeled by others for the future open pit sump water. The water profile is complex and the treatment plan includes heavy metals removal by chemical precipitation. Plant effluent quality was initially predicted largely based on published theoretical heavy metal solubility data. To address uncertainty with the treatment process and improve the inputs for the impact assessment model (by others), McCue created a synthetic water sample from field leachate samples and laboratorygrade salts to match the modeled plant inlet water profile. The synthetic water sample was used to validate the water treatment process at a bench scale and provide effluent quality data for impact assessment modeling. The bench scale test program also provided valuable data needed in the future to advance the design of the mine water treatment plant from preliminary to detailed. Data from the bench scale work reduced uncertainty as to what could be achieved with water treatment at the project site and what impact the treated water would have on the local environment. This was important in satisfying both the regulators reviewing the EA and the project stakeholders, including local First Nations. The bench scale test results and data from an ensuing full-scale treatment plant at another project site have also contributed to the body of knowledge for heavy metals precipitation treatment performance. For instance, previously, literature indicated that no or negligible removal could be achieved for copper. McCue’s work has provided valuable data for copper that could benefit EA work at other mine sites globally. McCue will present the synthetic sample method, bench scale test program results, and how they related to the detailed design and performance of a full-scale metals precipitation plant that offered an economical treatment program for complex water containing high levels of salts in addition to heavy metals.

Text

2024-02-15

Attribution-NonCommercialNoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/87450

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/