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Guidance Document for Management of Wastes from the Base Metals Smelting Sector
- 1. Summary
- 2. Introduction
- 3. Base Metals Smelting Sector Waste Generation and Management
- 4. Wastes from Canadian Base Metals Smelting Sector
- 5. Options for Reducing Amount of Wastes Generated
- 6. Options for Management of Wastes and Residues
- 7. Recommendations for the Management of Wastes
- 8. Glossary of Terms and Acronyms
- 9. References
- 10. Bibliography
Wastes from Canadian Base Metals Smelting Sector
4.1 Sector Description
4.2 Canadian Base Metals Smelting Sector Wastes and Residue Generation and Management Data
This study focuses on fourteen of the Base Metals Smelting Sector sites in Canada which participated in the Strategic Options Process. The Canadian Base Metals Smelting Sector includes refineries. This section summarizes available information on residues from the Canadian Base Metals Smelting Sector. A limited amount of data on residues was gathered in 2000 through the use of a survey (i.e., Environmental Performance Profile Data Sheets) which requested information on solids and by-products and was distributed by Hatch on behalf of Environment Canada and completed by industry.
4.1 Sector Description
The primary base metals smelting and refining sector is composed of producers of copper, lead, nickel, and zinc, with cadmium and cobalt as by-products. The majority of the feed material is from primary materials (i.e., concentrate), but some of the facilities included in this sector process secondary materials (e.g., recyclables).
As shown in Figure 3 base metals metallurgical complexes are located in British Columbia (1), Alberta (1), Manitoba (2), Ontario (5), Quebec (4) and New Brunswick (1).
Figure 3: Canadian Base Metals Smelting and Refining Sector
Note:
| Province | Company | Site/Location | Facility | Map # |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Columbia | Cominco | Trail | Lead Plant, Zinc Plant | 1 |
| Alberta | Corefco/Sherritt | Fort Saskatchewan | Nickel & Cobalt Refinery | 2 |
| Manitoba | Hudson Bay | Flin Flon | Copper Smelter, Zinc Plant | 3 |
| Inco | Thompson | Nickel Smelter, Nickel Refinery | 4 | |
| Ontario | Falconbridge
| Kidd/Timmins | Copper Smelter, Copper Refinery, Zinc Plant | 5 |
| Falconbridge | Sudbury | Nickel/Copper Smelter | 6 | |
Inco
| Copper Cliff/Sudbury | Nickel Copper Smelter, Copper Refinery, Nickel Refinery | 7 | |
| Inco | Port Colborne | Cobalt Refinery | 8 | |
| Tonolli | Mississauga | Secondary Lead Smelter | 9 | |
| Quebec | Noranda | Horne/Rouyn-Noranda | Copper Smelter | 10 |
| Noranda | CEZ/Valleyfield | Zinc Plant | 11 | |
| Noranda | CCR/Montreal | Copper Refinery | 12 | |
| Nova Pb | Ville St. Catherine | Secondary Lead Smelter | 13 | |
| New Brunswick | Noranda | Brunswick/Belledune | Lead plant | 14 |
4.2 Canadian Base Metals Smelting Sector Wastes and Residue Generation and Management Data
An Environmental Performance Profile Data Sheet was distributed by Hatch on behalf of Environment Canada and was completed by industry in February 2000. The questionnaire requested information on by-products. It has been assumed in the following table that all items listed in the completed questionnaires as by-products are sold. The questionnaire also requested information on solids generated and the disposition of these solids. This information is included in the following tables.
The questionnaire did not request information on internal recycle streams, that is materials generated that are returned to the process (e.g., metals-laden pollution abatement system dust). This type of recycling is an integral part of the process operations.
| Site | Process Source | Detailed Description | Annual Quantity Generated (tonnes) | Characteristics /Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cominco | Barren slag | 140 000 | sold to cement companies as ferrous granules | |
| Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting | Copper smelter | Copper smelter slag | 253 200 | some used on-site as backfill or construction material |
| Inco Thompson | Electric furnace | Clean slag | 458 600 | on site disposal |
| Falconbridge Kidd Creek | Slag cleaning furnace | Slag | 300 140 | on site disposal |
| Falconbridge Sudbury | not reported | |||
| Inco Copper Cliff | Flash smelter | Smelter slag | 1 209 456 | on site storage |
| Inco Port Colborne | not reported | |||
| Noranda CEZ | not reported | |||
| Noranda CCR | Soda slag | 300 | on site disposal | |
| Noranda Horne | Slag Flotation tailings
| 550 000 | on-site impoundment
| |
| Noranda Brunswick | Blast furnace | Smelting slag | rot reported | on site disposal |
At the Falconbridge Sudbury smelter, the tonnes of slag produced per tonne of metal produced ratio has decreased from 7.13 in 1995 to 4.44 in 1999.
| Site | Process Source | Detailed Description | Annual Quantity Generated (tonnes) | Characteristics/ Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cominco | Abatement system | Sulphuric acid | 331 839 | 175,552 tonnes used on site, 156,287 tonnes sold |
| Falconbridge Kidd Creek | Abatement system | Sulphuric acid | 543 721 | sold |
| Falconbridge Sudbury | Abatement system | Sulphuric acid | 199 354 | sold |
| Inco Copper Cliff | Abatement system | Sulphuric acid | 585 100 | sold |
| Noranda CEZ | Abatement system | Sulphuric acid | 416 000 | sold |
| Noranda Horne | Abatement system | Sulphuric acid | 519 000 | sold |
| Noranda Brunswick | Abatement system | Sulphuric acid | 163 900 | sold |
| Site | Process Source | Detailed Description | Annual Quantity Generated (tonnes) | Characteristics/ Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cominco | Liquid SO2 | 48 840 | sold | |
| Falconbridge Kidd Creek | Copper smelter | Liquid SO2 | sold | |
| Inco Copper Cliff | Liquid SO2 | 60 400 | sold |
| Site | Process Source | Detailed Description | Annual Quantity Generated (tonnes) | Characteristics/ Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falconbridge Kidd Creek | Jarosite filtration | Jarosite residue | 100 000 | on site impoundment |
| Noranda CEZ | Jarosite | 148 348 | on site impoundment |
| Site | Process Source | Detailed Description | Annual Quantity Generated (tonnes) | Characteristics/
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting | Zinc plant | Gypsum | 169 000 | stored in Zinc Pressure Leach (ZPL)tailings pond |
| Noranda CEZ | WWTP | Gypsum sludge | 12 437 | on site impoundment |
| Site | Process Source | Detailed Description | Annual Quantity Generated (tonnes) | Characteristics/
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noranda CCR | Copper refinery | Baghouse Dust | re-used at Horne smelter | |
| Noranda Gaspé (now closed) | Converter gas | Dust bleed stream | re-used at Noranda Brunswick |
| Site | Process Source | Detailed Description | Annual Quantity Generated (tonnes) | Characteristics/Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inco Port Colborne | Waste water treatment plant | 1979 | Landfill on-site | |
| Noranda CCR | Waste water treatment plant | Water Treatment sludge | 1000 | Off-site landfill |
| Noranda CEZ | Waste water treatment plant | Water Treatment sludge | On-site impoundment | |
| Noranda Brunswick | Waste water treatment plant | Water Treatment sludge | Reprocessed to smelter |
| Site | Process Source | Detailed Description | Annual Quantity Generated (tonnes) | Characteristics/ Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falconbridge Kidd Creek | Mill | Mill tailings | 2 108 253 | on-site impoundment |
| Falconbridge Sudbury | Mill | Mill tailings | 1 982 562 | some used as backfill |
| Noranda CCR | Mill | Mill tailings | 1429 | sent to Horne/Gaspé for retreatment |
| Waste/Residue | Site | Process Source | Annual Quantity Generated (tonnes) | Characteristics/ Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammonium Sulphate | Cominco | 271 600 | sold | |
| Bismuth | Cominco | sold | ||
| Cadmium | Cominco | 917 | sold | |
| Cadmium | Falconbridge Kidd Creek | 711.2 | sold | |
| Cadmium | Noranda CEZ | 377 | sold | |
| Calomel | Cominco | 16 | Mercury recovered and residue returned to smelter | |
| Cobalt | Inco Thompson | 445 | sold | |
| Copper | Cominco | Drossing Plant | sold | |
| Copper | Inco Thompson | 3155 | sold | |
| Copper arsenate | Cominco | 881 | sold | |
| Copper cake | Noranda CEZ | 3816 | by-product | |
| Copper sulphate | Cominco | 7441 | sold | |
| Copper sulphate | Noranda CCR | 6379 | sold | |
| Dried Leach Slimes | Falconbridge Kidd Creek | Copper Refinery | sold | |
| Filter cake | Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting | Zinc Plant - 2nd stage leach | to impoundment | |
| Filter cake | Falconbridge Kidd Creek | Copper Refinery | not available | reprocessed in Copper Smelter |
| Germanium | Cominco | sold | ||
| Gold (troy ounce) | Cominco | Silver & Gold Recovery Area | sold | |
| Gold (troy ounce) | Inco Copper Cliff | Copper Refinery - Silver Refinery | sold | |
| Gold (troy ounce) | Noranda CCR | 1 097 225 | sold | |
| Indium | Cominco | sold | ||
| Indium (troy ounce) | Falconbridge Kidd Creek | 655 765 | sold | |
| Iron hydroxide/iron arsenate | Inco Copper Cliff | Nickel refinery | 6400 | disposal in tailings pond |
| Lead carbonate (PbCO3) cake | Inco Port Colborne | 98.6 | off-site to Brunswick | |
| Mercury/selenium sludge | Noranda CEZ | 115.1 | off-site impoundment | |
| Nickel/Cobalt Carbonate | Inco Copper Cliff | Copper Refinery | to Inco Port Colborne | |
| Nickel/Copper Cake | Falconbridge Kidd Creek | Copper Refinery | to Falconbridge Sudbury | |
| Platinum | Noranda CCR | sold | ||
| Precious Metals | Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting | sold | ||
| Precious Metals | Inco Copper Cliff | Copper Refinery | sold | |
| Precious Metals | Noranda CCR | sold | ||
| Precious Metals residue | Inco Thompson
| Nickel Refinery | sent to Port Colborne for cobalt and precious metals recovery | |
| Precious Metals residue | Inco Copper Cliff | Copper Refinery - 2nd Stage Pressure Leach | sent to Port Colborne for precious metals recovery | |
| Selenium | Noranda CCR | sold | ||
| Silver (troy ounce) | Cominco | Silver & Gold Recovery Area | 12 215 000 | sold |
| Silver (troy ounce) | Inco Copper Cliff | Copper Refinery - Silver Refinery | sold | |
| Silver (troy ounce) | Noranda CCR | 37 494 226 | sold | |
| Silver (troy ounce) | Noranda Brunswick | 8 451 000 | sold | |
| Sodium Antimonate | Cominco | 1454 | sold | |
| Tellurium | Noranda CCR | sold | ||
| Thallium | Cominco | 34 | stored for future markets |
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