Semi passive treatment to remove Nitrate in cold climate at Minto Mine

Mining activities can lead to contaminants entering the environment. Various active technologies have been developed to prevent contaminants from entering water systems, however, these technologies are often costly in resources and labour, and incompatible with the conditions presented by cold climates. Therefore, there is a need to develop passive treatments that can operate in cold climates with minimal maintenance requirements. For this research project, Yukon University and INRS are collaborating with Minto Exploration Ltd., which operates a copper-gold mine in the Yukon. Using microbial populations native to the mine site, this project intends to develop a laboratory scale biological treatment system to treat the contaminants of concern at the Minto mine. After the system has been optimized in the laboratory, it will be scaled up to operate at a pilot scale on site at Minto. This Master’s degree project will take two years to complete and will support the development of Minto’s remediation plan and help protect the environment.

Faculty Supervisor:

Guillaume Nielsen;Jean-François Blais

Student:

Partner:

Minto Exploration Ltd.;Newmont Corporation (Yukon)

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Mining

University:

Yukon University

Program: