Water Management
Strategies for responsible mining
Future mining will be about decreasing existing water-related challenges, and will require better ways to manage wastewater from the extraction of lower-grade orebodies needed for the green transition to be successful. Québec illustrates how water engineering, water management, and environmental dynamics are at the forefront of stakeholders’ agenda today. While, globally, innovations like Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) Systems – used to minimize the discharge of wastewater – or water monitoring analytics have gained in popularity, Québec continues to be the scene of advancements in water management at every stage of the mining life cycle.
Innovation tailor-made for Québec
The remoteness and harsh conditions of Québec’s northern mines requires constant upgrades and innovation from service providers offering water treatment solutions in the province. Saint-Laurent-based Veolia Water Technologies is spearheading the water treatment for Canada’s mines. Beyond delivering over EUR7 billion in revenue in 2022 for Veolia, the Veolia-Suez merger at the end of 2022 made Veolia Water Technologies and Suez Water Technologies & Solutions sister firms, bringing the firms unparalleled firepower to assist mines.
One key trend in water treatment in Québec is mobility, namely adding mobile assets to existing infrastructure in remote mines. Veolia’s Actiflo technology requires no introduction and remains an ideal solution for Québec miners given their operating environment. The remote aspect of Québec mines, coupled with the necessary speed for deployment, make the technology an ideal partner for the province’s producers. Leveraged notably at IAMGOLD’s Niobec mine in Saguenay, Actiflo is used to treat toxins and remove organic matter. It is well-suited for the removal of suspended solids, heavy metals, and other constituents of concern to ensure safe and compliant water supplies. Moreover, it is mobile. David Oliphant, the firm’s VP business development, said: “When companies are looking to drive project schedules, they cannot wait 18 months to have a permanent wastewater treatment facility put in place.”
With over 11.4 billion liters of contaminated water treated, Québec’s ALTRA | SANEXEN remains a preferred partner for mines to keep adding innovative solutions in terms of their water solutions. In particular, the ALTRA 3D technology can address the diverse aspects of mine closure and reclamation while reducing hazards and environmental liabilities and controlling costs. This innovation is purpose-built for Québec, as detailed by Marie-Chantal Savoy, VP strategy and communications: “Our woven lay flat hose can easily cope with the drastic environmental and climatic challenges and changes typically found in mining applications in Northern Québec. The ALTRA 3D solutions can be installed quickly, easily and most of all safely.”
Critical projects driving demand
Much like any service providers across the value chain in Québec, the lithium frenzy has led to expansive growth for actors in the water space. GCM Consultants, for instance, recently assisted a lithium-focused player with its water requirements on-site and the permitting of the water and wastewater treatment system. Karine Gauthier-Hétu, environmental director, detailed: “We have seen tremendous growth in our water treatment segment over the past few months. The lithium space has recently been extremely active, and we have seen tremendous growth in demand there.”
Service providers in the water space will have a key responsibility in helping mines with their zero wastewater targets, and with many projects due to switch from development to production in the next few years, firms like Veolia will likely keep seeing growing demand. Veolia recently helped a rare earth mine to achieve zero wastewater discharge with its OPUS technology, a reverse osmosis process operated at an elevated pH to maximize water recovery. David Oliphant noticed the progress made in rare earths: “The amount of activity we are seeing in the Québec mining industry today, specifically the rare earths space, is tremendous compared to 10 years ago.”
Decarbonization through innovation
In today’s mining, the way operators manage, treat, and discharge their water determines whether operators will have the community’s green light – effectively determining the mines’ success or failure. Before putting shovels to the ground, mining firms in Québec must think about the guidelines for preparing mine closure plans. In the past months, several instances in the province highlighted the importance of taking the community into account and being a leader through good environmental practices.
A couple of phenomena are likely to drive water-related topics in Québec in the coming months: mediation and remediation. For the former, the drive for more critical minerals taking explorers and operators to greenfield lands in areas unused to mining will necessitate unprecedented levels of communication among all stakeholders. In June 2022, concerned citizens began an independent environmental monitoring of Nouveau Monde Graphite’s Matawinie project, representing the first instance of citizens taking charge of their own sampling of the quality of water at a mine site in Québec. For the latter, the removal of toxic and polluting substances from existing sites will only grow given today’s high environmental standards. ALTRA | SANEXEN won the bid for the environmental remediation project of the former Aleris plant site in Trois-Rivières, Québec, to provide continuous full-scale remediation of PFAS (a group of chemicals) from landfill leachate and wastewaters for one of the country’s largest waste haulers. “We will see more and more large-scale site remediation projects in North America,” Marie-Chantal Savoy forecasted.
Frequent regulatory reforms, declining ore grades, and engineering complexities can make miners’ lives harder. Thankfully, Québec operators can rely on a strong web of consultancies to help them navigate the rough seas of water management. This means that, ultimately, the future will look bright for engineering consultancies and players involved in wastewater management, according to sector leaders like GCM Consultants’ Karine Gauthier-Hétu: “I believe mining companies will rely increasingly more on consultancies, especially in a world where the availability of specialized resources is getting scarce. Companies such as GCM will play a critical role in supporting mining companies with major challenges, such as technical issues, environmental issues, and sustainability.”
Image courtesy of Brunswick Exploration