Management of Acid Rock Drainage at Britannia Mine, BC Part 2: Water Treatment Plant Implementation and Operations

摘要

The Britannia Mine, located 45 km north of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada commenced production of copper ore over 100 years ago. Some 37 years after the mine closed, it continues to generate an average of about 300 kg/day each of copper and zinc, as well as relatively minor amounts of other metals, dissolved in some 5 million cubic metres of acid rock drainage (ARD) each year. Environmental remediation work by the Province of British Columbia commenced in 2001 with several technical studies aimed at collecting data to support a remedial concept for the mine. Several of these studies focussed on the feasibility of a water treatment plant (WTP) for the ARD and metal-contaminated groundwater, including mine hydrogeology, hydrology, geochemistry, mine workings water storage capability/reservoir management, residual handling/management, plant location selection and outfall design/location selection. These studies were used to develop a conceptual water treatment plant design used in a design-build-finance-operate (DBFO) procurement process for the WTP. Part 1 of this paper described the background and context of the water treatment plant at Britannia.