Mining & Metals

Water solutions & brine management for mining & metals industries

We provide comprehensive solutions for mining waters. We can help you to remove problem contaminants, treat mine waters, achieve minimal liquid discharge (MLD) or zero liquid discharge (ZLD), or recover valuable metals. There is no single solution for mining waters. We will study your problem and present you with options.

We Understand Mining Waters

Mining locations are often remote. Mining waters are diverse, the volumes involved can be large, and they vary seasonally. Water issues that we help with include:

  • Selectively removing ‘problem’ contaminants from discharge
  • Tailings pond capacity limits
  • Effluent flows
  • Meeting ion discharge limits (e.g. nitrate, sulfate, chloride)
  • Recovering metal content (including heavy metal)
  • Freshwater shortage/limits
  • Groundwater treatment
  • Mine dewatering
  • Acid mine drainage
Photo of a truck operating at a mining site
A photo of an upstream pre-treatment skid for a Saltworks FlexEDR electrodialysis reversal pilot plant.

Sulfate Experts

If you need to meet a sulfate discharge limit, we very likely have a solution for you. Every sulfate situation is different, so your sulfate challenge first deserves a dedicated review from our experts, to see how sulfates may be most economically treated using industrialized water treatment technologies.

 

Once a review is complete, most of our clients’ sulfate removal needs can be classified into high- and low- total dissolved solids (TDS) waters, described below. We have solutions for both, adjusted to your unique wastewater, including our new SulfateSelect solution family for low TDS wastewaters.

Water Management Options

The lowest cost treatment is to not treat at all. Our ScaleSense sensors measure problematic ions in real time, helping you determine if you can avoid treatment. If you must treat, our precipitation and solids filtration solutions will selectively target and remove problem ions of concern, such as arsenic, cobalt, iron, and sulfates. BrineRefine avoids over- or under-treating and can be more cost-effective than treating the entire flow.

 

If you need more comprehensive treatment, our desalination and brine management solutions can help. XtremeRO is a robust ultra-high recovery reverse osmosis system built for remote industries. BrineRefine also partners with reverse osmosis to remove scaling ions, enabling maximum recovery and smooth operations. SaltMaker is a platform of evaporator-crystallizer solutions with four possible configurations depending on your site needs and energy sources.

 

Our treatment professionals will help you assess the cost and performance of relevant options. Contact us. Challenge us.

A photo of clean water in a natural environment

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