Does the run-off from tailing ponds or waste rock heaps need passive purification? Is there a need to purify weak waters at a mine site, which in an active handling system is expensive or otherwise impractical?
Finnish Environment Institute SYKE offers its know-how for finding solutions to purify waste waters at their source. SYKE can evaluate the best and the least harmful restoration method for a basin that is stratified or otherwise in poor condition. The evaluation can be carried out with the help of analysing samples or with environmentally safe in situ tests.
To perform the restoration safely, analyses should be made of the acidification capacity of the anoxic water layers and plan the mixing proportions of water masses. This is how it is possible to get information on whether the state of the target water basin be improved by mixing and aerating the anoxic water mass or will the restoration only cause bigger problems, such as damage to fish and other water organisms.
Mesocosmos tests at Lake Kivijärvi, the recipient of Terrafame mine in 2018. © Anssi Karppinen