Presentation hold during EIP Water Conference in Porto, as part of the Porto Water Innovation Week in Session 1 "Water and the circular economy, part 1 – industry"

1. WATER INNOVATION: BRIDGING GAPS,
CREATING OPPORTUNITIES
27 AND 28 SEPTEMBER 2017
ALFÂNDEGA PORTO CONGRESS CENTRE
WATER AND THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY, PART 1 -
INDUSTRY
MINING WATER: POLLUTANT OR RESOURCE?
MONA ARNOLD
VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH
CENTRE OF FINLAND

2. Mine water - a pollutant or a
resource?
Mona Arnold
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

3. 312/10/2017 3
Discharges from mines – major worldwide problem
 50,000 km of rivers contaminated by these
discharges worldwide
 at least 8,000 km are in Europe
 Discharge from mines has been recognised
as the main cause of 7% of failures to
achieve the goals of the Water Framework
Directive

4. 412/10/2017 4
What’s in there?
Anything (= everything) that the ore contains
and
process chemicals
Cu2+
Fe2+
Al3+
Zn2+
Mg2+
Ni2+
H2AsO4
Fe3+ PO4
2-
Cl-
As
Sb
Se
AsO4
2-
SO4
2-
REE

5. 512/10/2017 5
Remove by precipitation

6. 612/10/2017 6
Valorize the precipitate
End of waste?
Magnesium oxide Processing costs vs revenues?
Building boards Fulfil quality criteria set for virgin
materials
Application Precondition
Soil amendment/
fertiliser production
Max. concentration of hazardous
elements

7. 712/10/2017 7
REE Recovery
SRBSulphate Sulphide
Y Sc Nd….
MeS
SO4
2-
H2S

8. 812/10/2017 8
Pollutant or a resource?
TECHNOLOGY IS THERE√
 PROCESS ECONOMY IS THERE?
 LOCAL MARKET IS THERE?
Cu2+
Fe2+
Al3+
Zn2+
Mg2+
Ni2+
H2AsO4
Fe3+ PO4
2-
Cl-
As
Sb
Se
AsO4
2-
SO4
2-
• Price of virgin material?
• Avoid waste management costs
• Concentrations?
REE

9. TECHNOLOGY FOR BUSINESS