Construction Program

As noted, the Demonstration Plant is a relatively small operation by industrial standards, and as such its footprint on the local environment is relatively small. Nonetheless, the facility was built to the highest standards of environmental protection and there were no significant impacts on the environment due to construction.

“We went through construction of the Demonstration Plant without any environmental incidents,” said Earl Dwyer, VBNC’s Manager of Environment, Health and Safety.  “In fact, there were no significant environmental impacts arising from the entire construction phase. The Demonstration Plant was a well managed construction project, from an environmental point of view. We were able to complete it eight months ahead of schedule, with an excellent environmental record.” 

Operations

Hydrometallurgy, or “hydromet” for short, is a metal processing technology that uses a chemical process combining water, oxygen or other substances in a pressurized or other vessel to dissolve a metal from its ore, concentrate or an intermediate product (such as matte).

The nickel industry worldwide has traditionally smelted concentrates produced from nickel sulphide ores to make an intermediate sulphide product called matte. Hydrometallurgy has been used for refining the matte to produce high purity nickel, copper and cobalt for the market. Thus, traditional production of these metals has occurred in two steps: smelting and refining.

The new hydromet process that is being developed by Inco will process nickel concentrate directly to metal products without first having to smelt the concentrate. It will be less energy intensive and environmentally-friendly since the sulphur dioxide and dust emissions associated with a smelter are eliminated.

This process is not entirely new. Many operations, including some in Canada, have used hydromet processes for years for extraction of zinc and copper from sulphide concentrates. However, it was not until the 1990’s that an acid-oxidative hydromet technology was developed to process nickel sulphide concentrates. This process is now being developed and optimized at the Demonstration Plant in Argentia.

Because of its small scale – just 1/100 the size of a commercial plant – the Demonstration Plant will have a minimal impact on the environment. “Furthermore, hydromet is a very clean process anyway, which is one of the reasons we are developing this technology,” said Demonstration Plant Manager Don Stevens. “Part of our purpose is to gather baseline data and accurately measure, on a much smaller scale, whatever environmental impacts may occur, so that these can be addressed and mitigated in the commercial plant design. It is an opportunity to learn.”

An Environmental Protection Plan (EPP) for the operations phase of the Demonstration Plant is providing a common reference document for environmental monitoring and protection of the facility. Outlined below are some of the monitoring programs in place to ensure protection of the environment in Argentia and the surrounding area:

• The pond monitoring program measures water quality within the discharge ponds. Water tests will be conducted weekly and chemistry adjustments will be made if necessary, to ensure that discharged water meets the regulatory requirements set forward by the provincial Department of Environment and Conservation.

• The air quality management program will monitor air quality at various remote locations within the facility footprint to measure particulate matter and nickel. The data is monitored daily and findings are recorded in a database that is accessible by the Department of Environment and Conservation.

• Stack monitoring at the Demonstration Plant will help identify the materials discharge from the facility during operation. The information collected will be used to verify that any such discharges are within allowable limits set out by the provincial environment department. This information will assist with the planning and design of the commercial plant emission control systems.

• The sewage treatment plant is monitored by site personnel to ensure compliance with all regulatory standards. Challenges were encountered during the construction phase due to overloading of the system. However, now that operations are underway with fewer personnel on site, results from the sewage treatment plant have improved markedly. 

• Marine sampling was conducted prior to the start of operations in Argentia. This information established a baseline measurement for the Environmental Effects Monitoring plan, which will identify and measure any environmental impacts from the facility.

All monitoring programs will assist in developing a long-term plan in order to meet or exceed the regulatory compliance requirements that have been set forward by the provincial government.