COLORADO - Vancouver-based BIOTEQ ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES has signed an initial contract to treat water from the Wellington Oro mine near Breckenridge. The zinc-silver mine has been closed since the 1970s, but acid runoff continues to reach a tributary of the Blue River.
BioteQ will operate one of its mobile plants at the site to confirm plant design criteria and zinc product quality. The company will then design, build and commission the permanent plant as well as provide ongoing process maintenance expertise. The proposed plant will have a capacity of approximately 300 million litres/year from which a zinc-lead-cadmium concentrate will be produced. The concentrate will be shipped to a refinery for processing. The plant is expected to be operational in 2006.
BioteQ operates similar plants at FALCONBRIDGE's Raglan mine in Quebec, BREAKWATER's suspended Caribou mine in New Brunswick, and PHELPS DODGE's copper mine in Arizona. If you log onto www.BioteQ.com, you can see the total number of litres treated at each site whizzing by in real-time.
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