BATHURST, New Brunswick Vancouver-based BIOTEQ has renewed its contract with CANZINCO (a wholly-owned subsidiary of BREAKWATER RESOURCES) to treat acid drainage from the company's closed Caribou mine. The new six-year contract covers water treatment and site management.
The Caribou plant is the first installation of BioteQ's patented BioSulphide process to treat wastewater and recover metals. It is being expanded this year with the intention to begin tailings retreatment in 2005.Water from the plant meets all discharge quality criteria.
FALCONBRIDGE's Raglan mine on the Ungava Peninsula of Quebec also has a BioteQ BioSulphide plant. It was completed late last year for a cost of $1.57 million. Full operation is anticipated in June, and the plant will recover nickel from an estimated 50,000 m of wastewater this year.
Commissioning is underway at the third BioSulphide plant in Arizona. The Bisbee project is a joint venture of BioteQ and PHELPS DODGE to treat runoff from a low-grade stockpile and recover copper.
CMJ published a larger explanation of the BioSulphide process in its October 2002 issue, which is available online at www.canadianminingjournal.com by clicking "Index & Archives".
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