Water treatment optimization through innovation

Tailings Dam contains the leftovers from the mining process

Water is an integral part of mining. Without ready access to water, ore processing and mineral production becomes prohibitively expensive, or is altogether not possible. Even when water is readily available, stakeholders expect that water will be used efficiently and sustainably by miners in order to be granted, and to maintain, a social license to operate.

Ore processing is water intensive and results in the production of tailings. Tailings are a mixture of gangue material, trace metals (or other minerals), residual processing aids, and water. For most mine tailings, the water readily separates from the solid fraction once the tailings are deposited in a tailings management facility (TMF). The recovery of water from tailings is essential to mining operations, especially in arid climates with scarce water sources.

In most modern mines, all of the available water in a TMF is recycled. Direct recycle of water from a TMF without treatment is preferred, given the large volumes of water in circulation. If treatment is required, steps should be taken to decrease water usage as much as possible and to optimize water treatment systems to manage operating costs. Bench-scale testing is one tool available to achieve this objective. Smart application of bench-scale testing is a cost-effective way to evaluate various technologies in support of new capital projects, or troubleshoot and optimize existing treatment systems. Bench-scale investigations should not replace long-term pilot programs at scale; instead bench-scale tests should be viewed as complementary and used to inform the piloting phase.

Test at the source

When dealing with complex mine waters, variations in water quality often occur. These variations may be seasonal – for example an increase in turbidity due to run-off – or can be process-related and result in significant changes to water quality over a short timeframe. Testing should be conducted in the field to get the most applicable results. By testing in the field, changes to water chemistry as a result of shipping samples offsite and sample storage conditions are eliminated. This is particularly important for waters that may be saturated in dissolved salts, where fluctuations in temperature can cause precipitation to occur prior to testing.

Challenge the status quo

Typically the standard ‘jar test’ method is the go-to for coagulation and flocculation tests. Jar tests are best used to evaluate the perfo mance of a small number of chemicals when precedent exists for treating a particular water stream. Each individual jar test requires one litre of sample, so there are practical limitations to the number of tests that can be performed in a reasonable amount of time for a given water sample. when precedent exists for treating a particular water stream. Each individual jar test requires one litre of sample, so there are practical limitations to the number of tests that can be performed in a reasonable amount of time for a given water sample. The volume of raw sample required to run numerous jar tests also limits the number of tests that can be reasonably performed.

At Hatch, we have successfully developed and applied high-throughput methods to test mining waters and tailings. The methodology involves simultaneous testing of up to 48 treatment conditions using small sample volumes (15 mL or 50 mL). The result is a very efficient method to screen multiple chemicals, oxidants, or pH conditions all while minimizing the amount of raw water sample required and maximizing the number of tests and data collected. This method has proven to be very effective when testing mine waters having complex water chemistry.

Respond rapidly

Portable batteryoperated instruments for water testing allow for in-field measurements and timely feedback to guide bench-scale tests. Further, water analytics are benefiting from miniaturization as chip-based sensors are becoming smaller and thus more portable. Innovative solutions are also available for measuring very low concentrations of select contaminants using biological-based sensors. All of this supports the ability to quickly mobilize water testing equipment and analytical instruments for site-based testing globally.

A case study in reclaim water treatment optimization

Hatch recently completed a high-throughput testing study to evaluate and compare several coagulants and flocculants, and combinations thereof, against the chemical recipe used at an existing tailings reclaim water treatment plant in Ontario. The testing program was developed to screen the performance of a wide-range of chemicals at various dosages due to the limited data that was available for treating this particular reclaim water. Using a high-throughput testing method, 425 distinct tests using various chemicals at different dosages were conducted in three days. The results of this study were used to guide larger volume tests conducted at the mine site and to evaluate treated water toxicity. The testing demonstrated that more conventional chemicals could be used at reasonable doses, and that switching to the new recipe would result in significant annual operating cost savings.

While not guaranteed to have the same results at other sites, this high-throughput bench-testing method could be used at existing plants to quickly confirm whether dosing levels are optimal, as well as potentially lower costs.

The author is senior water process engineer and technology development lead at Hatch.