RESOURCE-RICH WATER

With demand for minerals skyrocketing, mine companies are determinedly looking for ways to expand mineral yields and increase profits. Now it seems that contaminated mine water could hold the key to easy mineral recovery and unlocking value.

Mine water is proving itself to be an increasingly valuable asset, with every litre of water holding recoverable dissolved minerals –which could add value and increase profits for mining operations. This once-overlooked inconvenience is rapidly changing from industry annoyance to valuable asset with companies embracing advancements in environmental technology for mineral recovery.

Water treatment solutions

Queensland-based company Mine Water Solutions has been testing and treating mine water across Australia, helping mine owners and operators across the country capitalise on this often discarded resource rich water.

Through a simple process, the company doses the contaminated water with its signature solution Catalyst365 which instantaneously separates the dissolved minerals, allowing them to settle into a dense sludge, ready for recovery. The now-neutralised excess water is pumped off, leaving the valuable resources separated and ready for collection.

Forgotten copper

Mine Water Solutions conducted analyses on an abandoned copper mine in the Northern Territory, which had more than 650ML of contaminated water. The results identified that each litre of the pit water contained 5g of copper oxide and copper hydroxide.

This represents over 5t of these compounds per megalitre, and a recoverable resource value of more than $29 million. Furthermore, these findings only relate to the dissolved minerals in the water and do not include any of the submerged underlying resources lying dormant under the water.

Other examples of mine water’s resource recovery potential include the well-known Queensland gold mine at Mount Morgan, where the pit water contained over 34g of a dry powder residue in every litre of water. This discovery was far greater than that of a Western New South Wales gold mine, in which it was found that the mine’s discharge water contained 16g of dry powdered mineral residues per litre.

Many mine owners and operators remain unaware of how valuable mine water can be, and the minerals and resources that can be recovered.

After the initial recovery of minerals from contaminated water, the Catalyst365 treatment opens the door for safe access to the once isolated resources. The treatment also offers a potential solution to the reprocessing of tailings dams and the reactivation of the mines.

This low cost treatment enables ease in mine site remediation and allows the neutralised water to be recycled for operational use.

The Catalyst365 is proudly Australian developed, owned and delivered, and is providing a valuable and effective mineral recovery solution in helping mines capitalise on this resource rich water.

Knowing that the water at each mine will have a different composition, Mine Water Solutions’s treatment is customisable, offering bespoke solutions for each application. The company also offers confidential evaluations of contaminated water – all that’s required is a sample of your pit water.