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Hello, all:
Here is a rundown from a geologist in Butte on the Berkeley Pit. He hadn't seen the Harper's Magazine article:
"I can't run down a water quality spreadsheet for the Berkeley Pit waters. pH of the water is approximately 2.5, there is some gradation in water quality with depth related, I think to both temperature and mixing at the surface. The water is kind of a geochemical soup, the main contaminants of concern being Al, As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Fe, and sulfates. The presence of As, and Zn complicates water treatment options because of their geochemical performance, which will require a 2 stage precipitation circuit...potentially also including reverse osmosis. Researchers have investigated a wide variety of treatment options trying to recover metals, but I'm not aware of any that have shown real promise, except as a minor cost offset. Recovering metals also has the benefit of reducing sludge produced as a byproduct."
So here are two key quesitons to ask at the shareholders' meeting - whether the presence of arsenic (As) and zinc (Zn) have been successfully addressed in the KBF selective separation process, and whether reverse osmosis is required. I find it encouraging that what the geologist says confirms the article, and points up the intractability of the decontamination solutions proposed to date. |
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