COPPERSTONE RESOURCES AB Copperstone Resources AB and Teollisuuden Vesi Oy (TeVe) have jointly developed a new solution for water treatment which, since November, has been evaluated on a large scale and in an authentic environment directly adjacent to the Viscaria mine that Copperstone intends to reopen. The result of the water treatment in the pilot is ground-breaking. The method, a combination of accepted technology and chemistry (ion exchange technology), has demonstrated up to 97–99% of several elements of metal contamination in the mine water that is currently discharged from the old mine, which was active during the 1990s, into nearby water streams. These impressive results are exceptional also from a global perspective.
The purpose of the pilot is to show that the company will have the ability to treat both the drainage water of the now water-filled Viscaria mine as well as the water that will be discharged when the mine has returned to production. Copperstone has so far invested approximately SEK 25 million into the water treatment project. The test facility has the capacity to treat between 50–100 cubic meters of water per hour.
This corresponds to up to one-sixth of the expected volume at steady-state mining and drainage. Copperstone intends to scale up the test facility to full capacity after a granted environmental permit and well ahead of the mine reopening. Copperstone is committed to treat water during the drainage, operation and post-treatment phases and has therefore worked hard to investigate what technologies are possible.
The tests have taken place with flows of up to 100 cubic meters per hour, which shows that it is possible to continuously treat significant water flows with ground-breaking results, while the water that now naturally drains from the mine can be treated and significantly improve downstream water environments. The various components that make up Copperstone's treatment plant have previously been used separately in other designs. Copperstone will now begin long-term testing of the treatment plant and will thus further improve the basis of the ongoing investigation and at the same time treat the water that is currently released from the old mine.
