A feasibility investigation of the potential use of the "Chara process" and indigenous biota as passive polishing agents for cyanide in waste liquors at Arvida / for D.O. Johnson, Alcan International Ltd., Kingston Laboratories

Report examines the potential use of indigenous algal-bacterial flora and/or Chara as passive polishing agents for the removal of cyanide from Arvida waste waters

Commentary on the Visit to Burkina Faso The World Bank

DRAFT REPORT FOR COMMENT to Mr. Craig Andrews, The World Bank, industry and Mining Division, Industry and Energy DepartmentThis report is a commentary summarizing in Appendix 1 through IO the information which% has been obtained in the 2 days prior to departing to Burkina Faso, during the various meetings held, while on site and after the return. The terms of references which were defined for the project (Appendix 10) can not be satisfactorily addressed, given the time frame of the visit and the limited funds available

Buchans ecological engineering treatment assessment : long-term performance evaluation and site visit report (2009)

The decommissioning effort of the Buchans Waste Management area was carried out by Boojum Research Ltd for ASARCO between 1988 and 1998.The decommissioning effort of the Buchans Waste Management area was carried out by Boojum Research Ltd for ASARCO between 1988 and 1998. A biological polishing pond system was installed treating combined effluents from Orientals, Valley Seeps and Drainage Tunnel. Work in the Hospital tailings spill area addressed the distribution of the metals to a depth of 0.5m and defined the contaminant loading to the Turnpike and the Buchans River. Based on these data a fresh water diversion ditch was constructed and test plots were set up to generate a hardpan below ground, where iron and metals precipitated with phosphate sand and a cover was provided for vegetation to prevent erosion. The test results were very positive and the PHITO (Phosphate Heterotroph Inhibition of Tailings-Oxidation) was implemented prior to the death of G. Neary. Boojum Research Ltd is a research company, developing sustainable decommissioning technology based on Ecological Engineering principles

Connection of the drainage tunnel with the Oriental Pits : geochemical and hydrological considerations

Report provides information on zinc removal in the Oriental east pit and the Oriental west pit. The report also suggests the diversion of the drainage tunnel waters to the First Meadow for treatment

Appendix 4

Groundwater with a low pH and contaminated with heavy metals is entering Mud Lake. This water body has been identified as the best site to treat this water before it enters Confederation Lake. Biological treatment using ARUM (Acid Reduction Using Microbiology) is the suggested treatment method. A laboratory experiment was carried out to determine whether ARUM can remove Zn and other contaminants from Mud Lake water. A preliminary experiment was carried out to determine what would happen to the groundwater in oxidising conditions. Such conditions will be present in the mixed surface waters of Mud Lake. This experiment sought to determine whether, to what extent and at what rate Fe oxidation and subsequent precipitation of Fe(OH), can occur. This experiment determined that aeration of groundwater entering Mud Lake (GD trap water) at room temperature (similar to summer conditions in the field) results in oxidation, hydrolysis and precipitation of Fe commencing at 88 h. From around 213 h, an equilibrium between Fez' and Fe3' is attained with no further net oxidation or removal of Fe from solution. Oxidation rate was estimated as around 103 mg.m-3.min-' and was little influenced by the presence of a sediment. However, in the presence of sediment approximately 50 % of the Fe and acidity in the water was removed in 27 days. In cold room conditions, where the temperature (1-5OC) is similar to what would be encountered within and just above sediments in the field in winter, oxidation did not occur during the first 27 day period of observations with all Fe remaining in the Fe2+ state. However, within 72 days oxidation had commenced in jars with sediment and pH had declined to <3. As at room temperature, 50 YO of the acidity and Fe was removed by the sediment. ARUM worked very well on groundwater entering Mud Lake (GD trap water). Within 23 days at room temperature, dissolved Zn concentration was reduced from >80 mg.L-' to 4 mg.L-' in reducing condition induced through addition of decomposable organic matter (alfalfa or potato waste). With added alfalfa some of the Zn remained in the suspended solid fraction. This is potentially mobile. With potato waste, the Zn was almost totally removed to the sediment. Therefore, potato waste is the amendment of choice. In cold room conditions, and in the presence of an amendment and Mud Lake sediment, reducing conditions were established in Mud Lake groundwater within 54 days and Zn concentration reduced to 0.334 mg.L-' in the presence of potato waste

Contaminant sources and sinks: : summary of R& D 1985 to 2002, South Bay

The South Bay Waste Management Area (SBWMA) is located in Northern Ontario, approximately 85 km north east of Ear Falls (51o 08N, 92o 40E). A zinc and copper mine was operated on the site from 1970 to 1981. The mine, the site of the former mill, a waste rock pile and the tailings are all located on a peninsula within the watershed of Confederation Lake, an important fishing lake with hunting lodges in the English River drainage basin. In fact, the former mine site is virtually surrounded by a chain of tributary lakes which feed Confederation – Boomerang Lake (1M m3) to the south which flows directly into Confederation, and Mud Lake (0.07M m3) and Lena Lake ( 0.7Mm3) to the north and northwest which flow to Confederation by way of Armanda Lake (1 M m 3). Boomerang Lake was contaminated during the life of the mine, and Mud Lake was contaminated in 1994 by a groundwater plume moving from the tailings. Both have been designated as part of the SBWMA and have been utilized in the clean-up effort. . Decommissioning activities, undertaken immediately after the closure of the mine, consisted of burying the portal and sealing the shaft, raises and caps. All buildings were destroyed - except for the concrete foundations that were left in place - and the contaminated building materials buried except for those materials subsequently used in the restoration. The tailings were covered in gravel to a depth of one foot and revegetated. These efforts had no effect on the generation of acidity and contaminants. A 1986 environmental study noted that acidic plumes were leaving the site and recommended that they be treated by the occasional liming of Boomerang Lake, a proposal that was not accepted. In 1986, Boojum Research Limited was invited to assess the potential applications of ecological engineering at the SBWMA and the site has thus become a demonstration site of this decommissioning approach. The SBWMA contains two distinct contaminant-generating areas; the Mine/Mill Site and the tailings basin. Measures taken at the SBWMA have substantially reduced the mobilization of contaminants on the site, and redirected all contaminants into two major contaminant sinks, Boomerang Lake and Mud Lake. Mass balances are presented below for the contaminants mobilized on-site and captured by the sinks. The noted retention of tons of contaminants provides a measure of the effectiveness of the effort to date

Buchans : mining wastes and the environment

In July, 1988, ASARCO retained Boojum Research Limited to assess the Buchans waste management area which has been dormant since 1984. The objective of this work is to identify, through an intensive field investigation and analysis of historic data, any problems which exist and to suggest an approach for the reclamation and decommissioning of the Buchans waste management area. Results of the environmental monitoring of the waste streams, carried out by ASARCO, indicate that the concentrations of metals in the water of the pits is high. Therefore, ameliorative measures for the pit effluent should be considered a top priority. The reclamation plan will focus on developing a means of improving the quality of the water leaving the site, prior to its discharge. The socio-economic conditions require that the waste treatment systemat Buchans be ultimately maintenance free, i.e. a self-sustaining walk-away solution

The application of ecological engineering for close-out at Buchans : final report /prepared for Mr. George Neary, Joint Venture Group at Buchans NFLD., ASARCO INC. - Abitibi-Price Inc.

Report provides information pertaining to the use of the ARUM process and ecological engineering at the Buchans mine. The report includes data from the Oriental pits, and the tailings pond

Biological polishing in acid mine drainage : contaminant removal capacity and application model : final report

Report details the development of a model for biological polishing