Golder to help clean and recycle mining wastewater
October 22, 2020
By CCE
NRCan is helping fund the pilot project.
Photo courtesy E2metrix.
Golder is supporting a new two-year pilot project, announced last month by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), to help clean and recycle mining wastewater.
The project’s lead proponent is E2metrix of Sherbrooke, Que., which is testing the feasibility of electrochemical technologies for treating liquid effluents at mine sites in British Columbia and Quebec—specifically, to clean and separate harmful contaminants, including ammonia and heavy metals, from the mines’ wastewater. If successful, the project will provide a new, sustainable approach for complying with ammonia nitrogen discharge standards.
The water treatment group at Golder’s Montreal office, which has completed other successful projects using eletrocoagulation, is responsible for process engineering that will allow the integration of E2Metrix’s technology at the client sites. Anticipated environmental benefits include reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to sludge removal and treatment of mining wastewater, along with improving soil quality.
The project is receiving $5.1 million in funding through NRCan’s Clean Growth program and CanmetMINING’s Science & Technology Assistance for Cleantech (STAC). Other partners include Quebec’s ministry of economy and innovation, Osisko Mining and Investissement Québec.
