Table Of Content

STOPPING WATER POLLUTION AT ITS SOURCE RI PRM, SAORI ele Le 2 D. MISA Municipafle /Industrial Strategy for Abatement BEST AVAILABLE POLLUTION CONTROL TECHNOLOGY METAL MINING SECTOR FT" Environment Environnement Ontario wp/3763-15/tabofcon.rep/a ONTARIO MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT METAL MINING SECTOR BEST AVAILABLE POLLUTION CONTROL TECHNOLOGY DECEMBER 1991 SECOND EDITION JUNE 1992 Prepared By: KILBORN INC. 2200 Lake Shore Blvd. West Toronto, Ontario M8V 1A4 CANADA and THE ENVIRONMENTAL APPLICATIONS GROUP LTD. 20 Eglinton Avenue West, Suite 1006 Toronto, Ontario M4R 1K8 CANADA wp/3763-15/tabofcon.rep/a ONTARIO MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT METAL MINING SECTOR BEST AVAILABLE POLLUTION CONTROL TECHNOLOGY SECTION TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 INTRODUCTION aL TERMS OF REFERENCE 12 BACKGROUND 1.3 METAL MINING SECTOR 1.4 CONTROL PARAMETERS “1.5 STUDY FORMAT 2 DATA SOURCES AND ACQUISITION PROCEDURES 2.1 DATA SOURCES 2:2. GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS 2.3 COMPUTER DATABASE SEARCH 2.4 PLANT IDENTIFICATION AND SCREENING PROCEDURES 2.5 ONTARIO PROCESSING PLANTS 2.6 CANADIAN PROCESSING PLANTS OUTSIDE ONTARIO 27. UNITED STATES PROCESSING PLANTS 2.8 EUROPEAN PROCESSING PLANTS 2.9 AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND OPERATIONS 2.10 SITE VISITS 3 OVERVIEW OF POTENTIAL EFFLUENT CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES 3.1 CYANIDE TREATMENT 3.2 HEAVY METAL REMOVAL 3.3 ARSENIC 3.4 SUSPENDED SOLIDS 3.5 AMMONIA 3.6 NITRATE/NITRITE wp/3763-15/tabotcon.rep/a ONTARIO MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT METAL MINING SECTOR BEST AVAILABLE TREATMENT SECTION TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED) 3.7 VOLATILE ORGANICS 3.8 PHENOLICS 3.9 DISSOLVED SOLIDS 3.10 pH 3.11 OIL AND GREASE 3.12 TOXICITY 3.13 ZERO VOLUME DISCHARGE 4 EFFLUENT QUALITY STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS 4.1 CANADA - FEDERAL REGULATIONS 4.2 CANADA - PROVINCIAL REGULATIONS 4.3 UNITED STATES - FEDERAL REGULATIONS 4.4 EUROPE 4.5 AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 4.6 OVERALL COMPARISONS 4.7 QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL (QA/QC) IN LABORATORY TEST WORK 5 SCREENING OF WORLD WIDE OPERATIONS 5.1 ONTARIO PROCESSING PLANTS 52 CANADIAN PROCESSING PLANTS OUTSIDE ONTARIO 5.3 UNITED STATES PROCESSING PLANTS 5.4 EUROPEAN PROCESSING PLANTS 5.5 AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND OPERATIONS 6 INVENTORY OF SELECTED PLANT OPERATIONS 6.1 GOLD MINES AND MILLS 6.2 BASE METAL MINES/MILLS/SMELTERS 6.3 IRON MINES 6.4 URANIUM MINES/MILLS wp/3763-15/tabofcon.rep/a ONTARIO MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT METAL MINING SECTOR BEST AVAILABLE TREATMENT SECTION TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED) 6.5 SILVER MINES/MILLS PREFERRED (BEST AVAILABLE) TECHNOLOGIES 7.1 GOLD SECTOR Thr BASE METAL SECTOR 7.3 IRON ORE SECTOR 7.4 URANIUM SECTOR 7.5 SILVER SECTOR ALTERNATIVE PROCESSES 8.1 GOLD SECTOR 8.2 BASE METAL SECTOR BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES 9.1 PRACTICES EMPLOYED TO MINIMIZE UPSET CONDITIONS 9.2 PRACTICES TO CONTROL POLLUTANTS AT SOURCE 9.3 RECYCLE 9.4 OPERATOR TRAINING AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES 9.5 BACKFILL OPERATIONS 10 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 10.1 APPROACH TO THE SELECTION OF BAT TECHNOLOGIES 10.2 COMPARISON OF REGULATORY STANDARDS AND APPROACHES 10.3 PREFERRED BAT LEVEL TECHNOLOGIES 10.4 BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES 10.5 NON-LETHALITY AND VIRTUAL ELIMINATION OF PERSISTENT TOXIC CONTAMINANTS wp/3763-15/tabofcon.rep/a ONTARIO MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT METAL MINING SECTOR BEST AVAILABLE TREATMENT SECTION TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED) 11 REFERENCES AND SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 11.1 REFERENCES 11.2 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX A LIST OF CANADIAN MINES, MILLS AND SMELTERS APPENDIX B LIST OF UNITED STATES MINES, MILLS AND SMELTERS APPENDIX C CONTACT LIST - WORLD WIDE OPERATIONS AND AGENCIES OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA APPENDIX D GLOSSARY APPENDIX E CAPITAL AND OPERATING COST DETAILS FOR BAT APPENDIX F CAPITAL AND OPERATING COSTS FOR ZERO VOLUME DISCHARGE wp/3763-15/acknomedge.rep/a ONTARIO MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT METAL MINING SECTOR BEST AVAILABLE POLLUTION CONTROL TECHNOLOGY ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The BAT study team wishes to thank operators world wide, who kindly provided information for use in preparation of the inventory of waste water treatment technology. We are particularly indebted to Boliden Mineral AB of Sweden, to Metaleurop Weser Zink and Norddentsche Affinerie of Germany, and to INCO Ltd. and Falconbridge Ltd. of Sudbury, Ontario, for hosting study team visits to their respective waste water treatment plants. Messrs. John Hawley (Study Director), Zarko Tesic, Gerry LaHaye and Sean Southey of the OMOE; Messrs. Leonard Surges and Andrew Wollin of Environmental Canada: Ms. Elizabeth Gardiner and Ms. Maxine Wiber representing the Ontario Mining Association; and Messrs. Brian Bell, Bob Michelutti and Ron Connell, industry representatives; provided valuable comments during study progress meetings, as well as comments on the draft report. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A-1