Falco a leader at Raglan

While efforts to reduce emissions at the Sudbury smelting operation continue, Falconbridge (FL-T) is working to improve the environmental performance of its primary mines, including the Kidd division at Timmins, Ont.

At Kidd, programs are aimed at improving the efficiency and use of water treatment reagents, thereby increasing water quality and reducing treatment costs.

At Sudbury, Falco completed several projects designed to upgrade the performance of electrostatic precipitators, which remove dust from gases going to the stack. Overall, air emissions of pollutants were expected to fall by 79% from the 1998 base year to the end of 2000. Total 1998 releases for the Sudbury operations were 30% lower than in 1997.

Meanwhile, Falco’s Raglan nickel mine, in northern Quebec, has chalked up a number of environmental and social firsts since it began production in late 1997. It was the first project reviewed by Quebec’s environmental assessment program and the first to negotiate an impact benefits agreement with an aboriginal group. A highlight during the past year was the completion of a massive cleanup of an old, abandoned mine site near the property.

At Raglan, all water that has been discharged from the mill is being recycled back to the mill. Fresh water is drawn from a reservoir; however, the company’s draw less than 10% of the volume of the spring runoff each year. Tailings are de-watered and trucked to an impoundment area, where they are stacked and allowed to freeze to permafrost. Monitoring ensures that there is no generation of acid runoff.

Falco also operates the Collahuasi copper mine in Chile, which was designed to be a zero-discharge operation. No water-borne effluents will be discharged from either the concentrator or port area.