Improving treatment of mining wastewater
Improvements have been made in the treatment of mining wastewater contaminated with cyanides and their by-products, thanks to a research project by a partnership including the Institut de recherche en mines et environnement UQAT-Polytechnique (IRME), the Centre technologique des résidus industriels (CTRI) at the Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. and Mabarex Inc. A final report was recently issued on the problems that this project encountered in the treatment of effluent at Agnico Eagle’s LaRonde mine.
According to Pierre-Olivier Gendron, a water-treatment specialist at Agnico Eagle, the results of this research project are of great importance to the mining industry. He says, “The tests that we performed in this project validated the approach that we wanted to apply to implement a denitrification circuit at our biological wastewater treatment plant. The results of this research validated various treatment costs while fostering information exchanges among the participants. These investments will position the LaRonde division as a leader in the biological treatment of mining wastewater in Quebec.”
The first step in the project consisted in an in-depth characterization of the LaRonde mine effluent at various stages in the treatment process. Next, researchers Carmen M. Neculita (IRME UQAT-Polytechnique) and Thomas Genty and Robin Potvin (CEGEPAT-CTRI) tested the effluent pre-treatment methods used at the mine, in order to propose possible solutions for the treatment of contaminants. Mabarex Inc., which specializes in water treatment processes, contributed to the analysis of the feasibility of the proposed solutions and of the costs associated with their application.
The researchers stress the importance of transferring knowledge and exchanging expertise. “By bringing researchers from colleges and universities together with specialists from industry and a water-treatment consultant, this project enabled us to take our research out of the laboratory and apply it at the mine site.” The students trained in the course of this project can now continue to transfer expertise within the mining industry. In all, one postdoctoral fellow, one master’s student, three students doing specialized graduate studies, and 10 college and university interns contributed to this project.
This project ran from 2013 to 2017 and received financial support from the two partner companies, as well as from NSERC, through its College and Community Innovation Program – College-University Idea to Innovation Grants.
This article was adapted with the permission of the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
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