International water-treatment plant specialist Degrémont has made itself available to advise South African consulting engineers on the issue of mining-focused wastewater treatment solutions, Degrémont South Africa GM Remy Jaffray tells Mining Weekly.

“We conduct regular meetings with consulting engineers to share our expertise and support in the development of water-treatment technologies. We also assist consulting engineers in providing pilot plants and new technologies” he explains.

Degrémont provides turnkey water management for mines, which includes extraction, concentration, refining, closure and recovery services.

“Our expertise is in process water production, wastewater and acid mine drainage (AMD) treatment, as well as metals recovery. However, we are open to developing new solutions with mining companies, as we have done with Chilean State-owned copper mining company Codelco for a molybdenum treatment plant.

“We respond to all contract models; manage, design and build projects; and offer operation and maintenance services. We can also finance projects using the build, operate, transfer model,” Jaffray notes.

He highlights that it is often challenging to provide a waste- water treatment solution that has low capital and operating expenses.

Vaporising liquid and solid-waste streams, especially when providing selective removal technology for trace metals, is another challenge.

Further, Degrémont is able to offer packaged solutions that require limited civil work structure and are easy to carry and install.

“Mining companies usually prefer simple, proven technology that is robust and easy to maintain. The process must be easy to operate, as there is usually a lack of skills on site,” says Jaffray.

He notes that Degrémont has provided equipment for Rand Water’s Amanzi project, which aims to develop processes to handle AMD.

“We have also provided equipment and solutions for mining companies in Uganda, but our mining activities are currently more focused in the US, Canada and in South America, where we have worked with several mining majors, including BHP Billiton, Codelco, Areva and Rio Tinto.

“We can now provide mining industry-specific solutions for South Africa and have started to develop the business relationships necessary to do so,” Jaffray concludes.