Optimising Mining Wastewater Remediation

The mining and ore processing industry contributes significantly to the global economy but also potentially adversely impacts the environment. Wastewater produced by mining operations contains organic and inorganic contaminants and its direct discharge results in significant environment degradation and ecosystem damage. These operations result in substantial waste of water that could be otherwise recycled. The expanded application of CW, effectively demonstrated for sewage treatment, has potential for the remediation of mine waste waters. During the last 50 years, these have been successfully used for all types of wastewater, including sewage, agricultural runoff, landfill leachate and stormwater runoff. They have been shown to provide a reliable, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective alternative to conventional treatment technologies.  
 
For the treatment of mine waste waters there are many knowledge gaps, including an understanding of the complex hydrodynamics, aqueous chemistry and the uptake of pollutants within the CW. The aims of this research are to improve this understanding and demonstrate that CW are a suitable treatment option for waste waters derived from different types of metalliferous mines (e.g. copper, gold and uranium).