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SITE TECHNOLOGY CAPSULE: PINTAIL SYSTEMS INC'S AQUEOUS BIOCYANIDE PROCESS
Citation:
Clark*, P J. SITE TECHNOLOGY CAPSULE: PINTAIL SYSTEMS INC'S AQUEOUS BIOCYANIDE PROCESS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/540/R-00/501a (NTIS PB2001-104618submitted 4/16/01), 2000.
Impact/Purpose:
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Description:
A field treatability study of an innovative biological treatment technology for cyanide destruction and metals immobilizaton from an aqueous mine process stream was held at the Echo Bay/McCoy Cove mine site in Nevada. The Aqueous Biocyanide Process, developed and operated by Pintail Systems, Inc. of Aurora, Colorado, biologically detoxifies cyanide and immobilizes heavy metals from contaminated wsaste streams. pintail Systems, Inc's process utilizes a specially selected and augmented consortium of microorganisms immobilized on a fixed media isolite. The isolite is loaded into bioreactors which can be controlled to provide specific environments for microbial degradation and immobilization pathways. A mine pregnant solution (effluent from heap leaching operations) with high cyanide and metals concentrations was used for this demonstration. Results from the study show that the Biocyanide Process was effective in destroying cyanide and immobilizing metals from the process solution. There was an average 89.3% reduction in cyanide over one-month of continual operation (233 ppm to 25 ppm). Furthermore, many metals were reduced as a result of the biological treatment (92.7% for As, 91.6% for Cd, 61.6% for Co, 81.4% for Cu, 95.6% for Hg, 65.0% for Ni, 76.3% for Se, 94.6% for Ag, and 94.6% for Zn.