Our Technologies to Treat Metals

Dissolved metals in mine water from acid mine drainage require removal to achieve regulatory compliance. Our processes remove metals to meet ultra-low discharge limits, recover metals with appreciable value as a commercial grade concentrate, reduce/eliminate waste sludge production and reduce water treatment life cycle costs.

BioSulphide® & ChemSulphide®

Our sulphide precipitation technologies use biological or chemical sources of sulphide to selectively remove dissolved metals from mining wastewater.

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The process works by adding the sulphide reagent to the wastewater under controlled conditions to precipitate the target metal, forming high-grade solid metal sulphides that can be easily dewatered for sale or disposal. The water can then be discharged safely to the environment or re-used onsite. Recovering the dissolved metals as a commercial grade concentrate eliminates/minimizes waste sludge production.

Met-IX™

We apply our selective ion exchange to treat wastewater containing very low levels of dissolved metals that must be lowered further to meet stringent discharge limits.

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The Met-IX™ process uses resins to selectively target the metal, removing it from the wastewater and producing a concentrated regenerant stream. ChemSulphide® is often combined with Met-IX™ to treat the regenerant stream to recover the dissolved metals as a commercial grade solid by-product. With the metal removed, the water is safe for discharge. No waste sludge is produced in this process.

Applicable Metals

Remove for environmental compliance & recover for value:

Cobalt
Copper
Molybdenum
Nickel
Rhenium
Silver
Zinc

Remove for environmental compliance:

Antimony
Arsenic
Bismuth
Cadmium
Iron
Lead
Mercury

Case Studies

Dexing

BQE Water established a joint venture with Jiangxi Copper Company to build and operate water treatment plants using BQE Water technologies.

Raglan

ChemSulphide® technology was selected to treat mine drainage at Raglan Mine, an active nickel mine in the Canadian sub-Arctic.

Silvertip

Amid a climate of challenging commodity prices and heightened regulatory scrutiny in the province, the Silvertip Mine in Northern BC is an underground operation set to begin production in Q4 2016.