Mine Waste Technology Program

Success Stories

Prepared by:

MSE Technology Applications, Inc.

P.O. Box 4078

Butte, Montana 59701

The Mine Waste Technology Program (MWTP) is sponsored by the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency through the U.S. Department of Energy

and is implemented by MSE Technology Applications, Inc.
1

Success Stories

MSE Technology Applications, Inc., has been able to transfer a number of the technologies

developed within the Mine Waste Technology Program (MWTP) to other Federal Agencies and

private entities. Deployments include the following.

Alumina Adsorption with Microfiltration – ZENON Environmental Inc. (ZENON) of Canada

successfully demonstrated their alumina adsorption with Microfiltration technology to remove

arsenic from process waters from the ASARCO East Helena, Montana lead smelter and from the

TVX Mineral Hill Mine 1300 foot Portal water located in Jardine, Montana. Alumina adsorption

is a widely recognized technology for the removal of arsenic from water. ZENON developed the

innovative approach using alumina adsorption combined with microfiltration. ZENON has

successfully marketed this technology since the demonstration. In addition, their microfiltration

technology, Zee Weed Microfiltration, has since become a preferred filtration technology in the

food processing industry and drinking water markets.

Catalyzed Cementation Process – Dr. Larry Twidwell, President of Montana Enviromet and

Metallurgical Engineering Professor at Montana Tech, is the developer of the Catalyzed

Cementation Process. MSE licenses the technology. Catalyzed Cementation is a proprietary

process developed to remove arsenic and other heavy metals such as selenium, antimony, and

thallium from water. The process removes contaminants from solution by cementation. The

Catalyzed Cementation has the ability to treat and remove arsenic from solution regardless of its

valence state (+3 or +5), i.e., a pre-oxidation step is not required. Proprietary reagents catalyze

the cementation process and optimize the removal efficiency of the process. Through the

MWTP, the catalyzed cementation process was demonstrated treating selenium contaminated

groundwater west of Salt Lake City, Utah at the Kennecott Utah Copper properties. This process

has the ability to reduce arsenic concentrations to well below the EPA regulatory discharge

standard. The catalyzed cementation chemistry centers around the use of zero valance iron. The

proprietary knowledge deals with the addition of catalyst to enhance the reaction rates of the

process. Successful treatability studies were performed in an effort to market this technology. 

The potential customers are Newmont Gold Company, MERCK Manufacturing Division, The

Sherwin-Williams Company, and Salt Lake City, Utah Supply Water facilities.

Mineral-Like Precipitation Process – Dr. Larry Twidwell, President of Montana Enviromet and

Metallurgical Engineering Professor at Montana Tech, is the developer of the Mineral-Like

Precipitation technology. MSE licenses the technology. This technology removes arsenic from

solution by incorporating the arsenic into a mineral matrix. This mineral-like precipitated

product is stable for long-term storage in a tailings pond environment, i.e., stable against

atmospheric reagents such as carbon dioxide. The precipitation of the mineral-like products is

capable of removing arsenic from solution to well below the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) regulatory discharge standard, as well as removing other heavy metals. During

the MWTP, the mineral-like technology was successfully demonstrated removing arsenic from

process waters from the ASARCO East Helena, Montana lead smelter and from the TVX

Mineral Hill Mine 1300 foot Portal water located in Jardine, Montana. Since the MWTP field

demonstration, MSE has been actively marketing this technology. The mineral like chemistry

has been successfully applied to many industrial process waters, and contaminated groundwaters
2

in treatability studies. Some projects where this technology was successfully tested were

Newmont Gold Company, Barrick Goldstrike, Pegasus Gold, Kennecott Utah Copper Company,

J.R. Simplot Company, Hecla Mining Company, Sherwin-Williams, MERCK Manufacturing

Division, and Potlatch Corporation.

The mineral-like chemistry has also been applied successfully to stabilize arsenic, lead ,and other

constituents in soils. An example of this is the successful completion of the Treatability Study

for Lead Shot Recovery, Abatement, and Sludge Stabilization for the Former Peninsula

Sportsmen’s Club Project near San Francisco, California.

Oil Company – The Sulfate Reducing Bacteria technology has been considered by an oil

company for use in a barrier to prevent the migration of lead in a groundwater plume.

Photo Oxidation of Arsenite to Arsenate – CRC for Waste Management and Pollution Control

(CRC) and Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organization (ANSTO) patent (US

05688378) ultra violet (UV) iron process was successfully demonstrated treating water from the

Susie Mine in Rimini, Montana. Researchers at ANSTO discovered that, in the presence of light

and dissolved iron compounds, the oxidation rate of dissolved arsenite to arsenate by oxygen can

be increased by more than four orders of magnitude. Since the MWTP field demonstration, the

technology has been marketed all over the world for treating industrial process waters and

drinking waters that contain arsenite. CRC and ANSTO have improved on the efficiency of the

UV photo oxidation process by developing the UV/Sulfite Photo-Oxidation Technology.

In 2001, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funded a number of SBIRs in the area of

arsenite oxidation by UV for contaminated drinking water supplies. The positive information

developed in the MWTP oxidation project fueled the opportunity for further development.

Reductive Precipitation Technology – Dr. Larry Twidwell, President of Montana Enviromet and

Metallurgical Engineering Professor at Montana Tech, is the developer of the Reductive

Precipitation Process. MSE licenses the technology. Reductive Precipitation is a proven

technology that effectively removes arsenic and other heavy metals by forming insoluble salts. 

Pilot-scale studies have proven that the Reductive Precipitation effectively reduces arsenic and

antimony concentrations to less than the EPA drinking water standards of 10 parts per billion

(ppb) for arsenic and 6 ppb for antimony. MSE has been successfully marketing this technology. 

The technology was implemented at a high profile superfund site in Emeryville, California to

remove arsenic from groundwater. MSE designed, installed, and commissioned the full-scale

plant. The Reductive Precipitation process has been operating successfully since March 1999. 

The Reductive Precipitation process has reliably operated since March of 1999. Current

potential customers interested in the implementation of this process are Rhone-Poulenc Basic

Chemicals Company; Salt Lake City Supply Water facilities; and Camp, Dresser and McKee.

Water Treatment Facility – Forest Queen – A passive water treatment facility based on the use

of sulfate reducing bacteria was designed and installed at the Forest Queen Mine near Silverton,

Colorado in 1997. This facility was developed for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management,

Colorado State Office, as a portion of the Rocky Mountain Headwaters Mining Waste Initiative.
3

Water Treatment Facility – Moran Tunnel – A passive water treatment facility based on the use

of sulfate reducing bacteria was designed and installed at the Moran Tunnel near Arco, Idaho in

1999. This facility was developed for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Idaho Falls

Regional Office, as a response action under the BLM Idaho State Response contract.

Water Treatment Facility – Constitution Mine – A passive water treatment facility based on the

use of sulfate reducing bacteria was designed at the Upper Constitution Mine in the Pine Creek

Drainage of Northern Idaho in 2000. This facility was developed for the U.S. Bureau of Land

Management, Coeur d’Alene Regional Office, as a response action under the BLM Idaho State

Response contract.

Water Treatment Facility – Margaret Mine – A semi-passive water treatment facility based on

the addition of alkaline reagents to the contaminated water using the technology that was

originally developed for the Remote Mine Project under the MWTP was designed at the

Margaret Mine near Silverton, Colorado in 1997. This facility was developed for the U.S.

Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office, as a portion of the Rocky Mountain

Headwaters Mining Waste Initiative.

Water Treatment Consultation – Richmond Hill – Consultation services were provided to LAC

Minerals Corporation, the owners of the Richmond Hill Mine near Lead, South Dakota, related

to their efforts to treat contaminated waters associated with the mine. The facility being

developed is to be based on the actions of sulfate reducing bacteria.

2. Geographical Locations (Click Here)
Basin, M

Butte, MWhitehaGardineBlack HDeadwo

EPA

Clear Lake, CA –Sulphur Bank MineReno, NV –Heap Leach DetoxBattle Mountain, NV –Echo BaySalt Lake City, UT –Kennecott

East Helena, MT– ASARCO

SmelterButte, MT– Berkeley PitElliston, MT– Lilly OrphanBoy Surething MineLincoln, MT– Mike Horse MineRimini, MT– Peerless MineMammoth, MT– MammothTailings SiteTownsend, MT–Miller MineAnaconda, MT–SmelterFallout Zone

Joplin, MO–Phosphate

Treatment of Soils