Headworks BIO Inc. has been awarded a contract by Claude Resources Inc. to supply its Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) technology to treat underground mine water at the Seabee Gold Mine in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada.
Headworks BIO is a subsidiary of the supplier of advanced wastewater treatment processes and equipment for municipal and industrial facilities Headworks.
Claude Resources, a fully integrated Canadian gold exploration and mining company, which owns the Seabee Mine, says that it chose the Headworks solution because it required a wastewater treatment process to lower the ammonia content of the mine effluent. Headworks will deploy its high-surface area ActiveCell® 920 media and supply the aeration grids, retention screens and two blowers to the mine. During the process, the influent water will receive pre-treatment to have the Total Suspended Solids removed. The water will then be heated to 10°C and the effluent will be discharged safely into a large pond.
The Seabee Mine is situated in a remote location in Northern Canada where direct access to the mine site is restricted. Equipment and heavy supplies have to be trucked to the site via a 60km winter ice road. This road is only available for use from January through March when the ice is thick enough to sustain the heavy traffic, so on time delivery and logistics are extremely critical.
"We are pleased to be awarded this project. It is affirmation of our expertise and our MBBR process' ability to operate under some of the most challenging conditions, as well," explained Michele LaNoue, president and chief executive officer of Headworks, "It also demonstrates the flexibility of our technology to be used for such a diverse and not so obvious application. We are confident that we will work within the time constraints and deliver this project on schedule with the ultimate goal of a successfully operating treatment system accomplished."
MBBR is a highly effective fixed film wastewater treatment process that employs thousands of polyethylene biofilm carriers to support the growth of biofilm. The carriers move freely in the reactor oxidising ammonia nitrogen in the wastewater. Oxygen is delivered to the carriers through course bubble aeration, which also keeps the carriers mixed and in suspension. Media is retained in each reactor via stainless steel retention screens.
