Multicomponent Solubility Models in Mine Water Management

A multicomponent thermodynamic database has been collected for aqueous and solubility calculations for mine water and other industrial applications. The database and equilibrium solvers has been connected with flowsheeting programs to enable studying optimal production conditions in a functional mine and testing of alternative process scenarios. The modelling combination can also be used for environmental control of drainage for safe closure of mining sites. The multicomponent chemical theory provides a rigorous basis for the model based approach while the data used in the simulation must be developed until predictive accuracy is reached. The solubility models then provide a fast and inexpensive tool for both troubleshooting and problem solving as well as for developing new economical and environmentally benign approaches for mine water management. The method is illustrated with to examples mine water chemistry of mine in South Africa and Finland.