Virtual Curtain Limited

Superior outcomes for treatment of contaminated & mine acid drainage water

1. Removes radionuclides and heavy metals

2. Reduces sludge volume by up to 90%

3. Long term stable repository for radionuclides via

calcination

4. Acid drainage/leakage control of abandoned mine sites and waste rock

5. Enables treated water to be efficiently purified by

reverse osmosis for release to the environment or recycled

6. Provides sub-surface treatment of contaminated

aquifers by creation of a virtual barrier or curtain

7. Very low capital cost

Contacts: Jeff Moore

Virtual Curtain Limited 0400 927 202 j.moore@virtualcurtain.com.au

Suite 1, 45 Ord Street West Perth Western Australia 6005

Dr Grant Douglas CSIRO

08 9333 6131

Private Bag5 Wembley Western Australia 6913

Virtual Curtain Water Treatment and Remediation Technology Virtual Curtain technology represents a new cost-effective method to treat acidic and contaminated mining and industrial wastewater to a standard suitable for discharge into the natural environment or for re-use. The treatment involves the synthesis and application of hydrotalcites – a layered double hydroxide mineral, primarily composed of magnesium and aluminium. Simple, generally one-step application methodology suitable for:

in situ, one-off treatment of large contaminated open-pit lakes;

batch treatment (“pump and treat”) of contaminated open-pit lakes using satellite pits;

“in circuit” treatment and remediation of process plant waste water, and;

sub-surface treatment of contaminated aquifers by the creation of a virtual barrier or virtual curtain.

The technology uses commercially available additives to create synthetic hydrotalcite-minerals which can remediate and neutralise acidic wastewater and capture a broad suite of toxic heavy metals including uranium, copper, lead, cadmium and anions such as chromate and arsenate. Virtual Curtain technology offers superior outcomes to the traditional use of lime-based additives to remediate acidic and contaminated waste water, with advantages including:

significantly reduced sludge volumes, by up to 90 per cent compared with lime-based precipitated sludges;

hydrotalcites form at approximately pH 6 or greater, settle rapidly and can be easily removed using centrifugation which contrasts to lime-based precipitated sludges which often require additional treatment to effectively dewater;

hydrotalcite precipitates have been demonstrated to contain high concentrations of uranium, rare earth element, copper and other valuable metals which can be reprocessed to recover valuable commodities and offset remediation costs, and;

hydrotalcites can be further stabilized via calcining to form a stable long-term repository for a range of radionuclides liberated during or after cessation of uranium mining.

Emerging global market as increasingly strict environmental management legislation impacts:

existing/abandoned mine sites with acidic drainage/leakage, including mining waste heaps with oxidising sulphide minerals such as pyrite;

in-situ uranium leach mine sites (“ISL”), including leakage from thousands of cold war-era uranium injection/extraction bores in Europe and the US, and;

current mine closure policies are becoming increasingly rigid with requirement for long-term solutions for leakage of toxic by-products.

In the first commercial application of the Virtual Curtain technology, metal contaminants were removed from an acid pit lake at a Queensland copper mine and approximately 50ML of rainwater-quality solute was safely discharged into a sensitive receiving environment.

“Virtual Curtain technology treatment produced only a fraction of the amount of sludge compared to a conventional lime-based method while also producing an ore grade precipitate,” said CSIRO scientist, Dr Grant Douglas. Commercial Scale Application of Virtual Curtain Technology at Copper/Tin/Silver/Indium Mine

Pit lake prior to treatment

Addition of hydrotalcite forming reagents (treatment completed in ca. 2 weeks)

Dewatered pit and hydrotalcite mineral “ore” grading 8% copper and 4% zinc

Recommencement of mining operations

Radionuclide Removal

Radionuclide activities at Beverley North Uranium Deposit:

In barren and treated lixiviant (Bq/L)

In HT-based precipitate (Bq/kg)

Radionuclide

Barren

lixiviant

(Bq/L)

Treated

lixiviant

(Bq/L)

Percent

removal

HT precipitate

(Bq/g)

238U 225 2 99.1

67194

234Th 557 0 99.9

120986

230Th 8683 66 99.2

1955469

226Ra 324 26 92.0

55282

214Pb 326 26 92.1

53822

214Bi 322 26 92.0

57013

210Pb 2193 4 99.8

488302

Summary of pH, major (mg/L), trace element (µg/L) and rare earth element (REE) of Beverley North Uranium Deposit Barren Lixiviant (BL), and post-hydrotalcite treatment BL compositions.

Analyte Barren lixiviant (BL) BL + MgCl2/NaOH

pH 1.43 10.03 (~8.5)

Major elements (mg/L)

Na 699 4721 K 46 39

Ca 303 206 Mg 96 33

S 2498 2135 Cl 1129 2779

Total Alkalinity <5 19

Trace elements (µg/L)

Al 323400 300 As 2390 13

Ba 60 7.6

Cd 193 <0.2 Co 750 <1

Cr 900 <100 Cs 84 61

Cu 2900 <100

F 4200 2400 Fe 335100 100

Ga 204 2.5 Ge 50 <1

Hf 2 <0.05 Li 640 563

Mn 800 <100

Mo 44 26 Ni 1600 <100

Pb 220 <5 Rb 562 460

Sb 3 0.4

Sc 200 <100 Si 169900 1600

Sn 20 <1 Sr 4406 2917

Th 1286 <0.05

Ti 200 <100 Tl 210 11

U 11900 4 V 26000 500

W 13 4.1 Zn 52900 <100

Zr 8 <0.2

Rare Earth Elements (REE) + Y (µg/L)

La 976 <0.02 Ce 2502 <0.02

Pr 345 <0.01

Nd 1368 <0.02 Sm 344 0.03

Eu 37 <0.01 Gd 388 0.02

Tb 68 <0.01

Dy 371 <0.02 Ho 71 <0.01

Er 190 <0.01 Tm 25 <0.01

Yb 152 <0.02 Lu 22 0.01

Y 1514 <0.05

Summary: Virtual Curtain Technology

Hydrotalcite formation to

neutralise acidity and capture

radionuclides and heavy metals

SEM image of hydrotalcite botryoids formed from Beverley uranium mine barren lixiviant

Close up of the botryoids showing individual hydrotalcite platelets formed from Beverley uranium mine barren lixiviant

Hydrotalcite precipitate formed from a laboratory trial using a Cu-Zn acid mine

water

Hydrotalcite precipitate containing approximately 8% Cu and 4% Zn (green)

recovered after the in situ treatment of a Cu-Zn acid mine water