USING THE SULFUR POLYMER STABILIZATION SOLIDIFICATION PROCESS TO TREAT RESIDUAL MERCURY WASTES FROM GOLD MINING OPERATIONS.

Conference · Mon Feb 24 04:00:00 EST 2003

OSTI ID:15006589

Large quantities of mercury are generated as a by-product during the processing of gold ore following mining operations. Newmont Mining Corporation (NMC), which operates some of the world's largest gold mines, sought a method to permanently ''retire'' its mercury by-products, thereby avoiding potential environmental liability. Sulfur Polymer Stabilization-Solidification (SPSS) is an innovative technology developed at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) for treatment of mercury and mercury contaminated materials, such as soil, sludge and debris. BNL conducted a treatability study to determine the potential applicability of SPSS for treatment of Newmont mercury, and the treated product passed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) test for toxicity. The SPSS process has been shown to be effective on radioactive and nonradioactive mercury and mercury-contaminated materials with a pilot-scale batch system capable of producing 0.03 m{sup 3} (1 ft{sup 3}) per batch. Engineering scale-up issues are discussed and material property tests addressing these issues are described.

• Research Organization: BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/SC (US)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-98CH10886
• OSTI ID: 15006589
• Report Number(s): BNL--71499-2003-CP; 820101000
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
GOLD ORES
MERCURY
MINERAL WASTES
ORE PROCESSING
SOLIDIFICATION
STABILIZATION
SULFUR
WASTE PROCESSING