Mining

In the mining sector, Northland Chemical offers chemical treatment solutions for mine process wastewater. Applications for chemical programs typically relate to neutralization and clarification for which the removal of heavy metals, fats/oils/grease (FOG), total suspended solids (TSS), phosphorous and total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) is required. Northland Chemical can help mining organizations meet their process wastewater discharge limits.

Tailings management is a substantive cost component of a mineral processing operation. The Northland Chemical team can help mining companies develop a cost-effective tailings strategy that may extend the life of their current disposal site as well as reduce future needs to expand tailings disposal areas. By providing the most effective chemistries combined with applications expertise, we can improve drainage and maximize water release from tailings slurry. The resulting high-quality water can be recycled to process or discharged, depending on site water management plans. Due to rapid dewatering, the substrate builds structure and can be tra­cked, manipulated or rehabilitated quickly. Gone is the need to have vast disposal areas awaiting settling and dewatering. Northland Chemical tailings management expertise can help reduce immediate and long-term tailings costs drastically.

The performance of the process thickener is a key focal point for the mill. Performance here directly converts into a monetary return. Process thickeners often operate beyond their design capacities due to process changes made over the course of the mill’s life. As a result, throughput increases are tremendously valuable. Northland Chemical can help its mining clients eliminate the bottlenecking of the process thickener.

Aggregate mill wash plants require large volumes of water containing minimal suspended solids in order to wash out fines and clays from the aggregates. Wash water is typically discharged to large settling ponds for the fines and clays to settle out. Due to the requirement for increased volumes of clean water, aggregate mill wash plants require faster solids settling as well as reuse of the supernatant wash water. Challenges encountered are dicult-to-settle highly charged fines and clays, as well as dicult to dewater slimy sludge formed with inappropriate dewatering polymers. Northland Chemical can eliminate aggregate mill wash plants struggles to meet their environmental water discharge limits.