| Summary: | During the closure of the Homestake Nickel Plate Mine, located in south central British Columbia, there
was a need to remove cyanide and other contaminants from water stored in the tailings impoundment
prior to releasing the water to a nearby stream. Several water management and treatment alternatives
were considered including land application, biological treatment, breakpoint chlorination, hydrogen
peroxide, and the lnco SO2/Air process which was already in use at the mine.
After extensive evaluations, the decision was made to use a combined aerobic and anaerobic biological
treatment system for removal of residual cyanide, thiocyanate, ammonia, and nitrate, coupled with a High
Density Sludge (HDS) process for removal of residual metals.
The aerobic biological process utilized expertise and experience associated with the original biological
treatment process still in use at the Homestake Gold Mine located in Lead, South Dakota, USA. The
anaerobic biological process utilized experience developed through bench scale and pilot plant
evaluations at the Nickel Plate mine.
This paper will discuss the development and operation of the combined full scale biological treatment
process. The discussion will include the decant or reclaim water characteristics, the basic process
chemistry, the original bench and pilot plant evaluations, design considerations, effluent limitations, and an evaluation of the first year of full scale operation.
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