Stephen P. Chesters, Phil Morton
Membrane technologies are capable of treating mine waste waters to produce clean permeate water for reuse and a concentrate stream that can be used for valuable metals recovery. In this paper, the authors have researched and identified 363 mines with potential to use reverse osmosis (RO), nanofiltration (NF), and ultrafiltration (UF) membrane technology. There are sixty-seven operational membrane plants, and fifty-one of these have been commissioned in the last ten years, with 69% of them located in gold and copper mines. The research highlights the ability to concentrate waste water in precious metal mines, which allows for additional metals to be recovered from barren liquor. Acid mine drainage (AMD) is also increasingly treated and reused or dispatched off-site as a valuable resource for both domestic and agricultural purposes. However, the membrane plants face challenges from rapid fouling and calcium sulphate (gypsum) scale. The paper explores these issues and presents novel techniques for preventing sulphate scale and cleaning fouled membranes effectively.
@article{212faadb-df2e-4494-b745-200b2af530ef,
title={Membranes and minewater – waste or revenue stream},
author={Stephen P. Chesters and Phil Morton},
year={2016},
language={en}
}TY - JOUR TI - Membranes and minewater – waste or revenue stream AU - Stephen P. Chesters AU - Phil Morton PY - 2016 LA - en ER -
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