Tag Archives: environmental monitoring

AGQ Labs wins environmental monitoring contract with Minera Chinalco

Base metals, Environmental, Mine operation news, Mining services, Precious metals, Sustainable mining, Water management, , , , , , ,

AGQ Labs has won a contract to carry out environmental sample analysis services for Minera Chinalco Perú SA over the next three years.

Minera Chinalco owns the Toromocho open-pit copper mine in the Morococha district of Peru, situated 4,500 m above sea level. Toromocho will produce 1 Mt/y of copper concentrate, 10,000 t/y of molybdenum and 4 Moz/y of silver oxide, according to the company’s website.

Minera Chinalco is a subsidiary of Aluminum Corporation of China, the second largest alumina producer in the world and the third largest producer of primary aluminium.

The purpose of the AGQ Labs contract is to analyse environmental samples during the next three years in various environmental matrices, including:

  • Surface waters, in this matrix, will be determined in accordance with the environmental quality standards (ECAs), looking at, among other parameters, run of total metals, anions, cyanide, microbiological and hydrobiological, volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile, organochlorine pesticides, phosphors, carbamates and polychlorinated biphenyls;
  • Groundwater, among other parameters, will be analysed for metals, anions, cyanides, COD, microbiological elements;
  • Domestic and industrial wastewater, in accordance with the applicable legislation for the sector, will be analysed for, among other parameters, metals, anions, cyanides, coliforms, etc;
  • Drinking water, complying with 100% of DS 031-2010.SA, will be looked at for microbiological and parasitological, organoleptic, volatile, semi-volatile organic compounds, pesticides and alpha and beta radiation;
  • Air quality will be determined according to the applicable ECAs, among others PM10, PM2.5 particulate material, metals, gases and others;
  • Characterisation of soils – cover or top soil – where the study of agronomic characterisation, metal run, and others of relevance for the purpose will be made;
  • Soils and sediments, in order to verify compliance with the applicable ECAs, will be analysed for metal, hydrocarbons in the three fractions, volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds, and other elements;
  • For environmental geochemistry, an ABA Test, and others will be determined;
  • Characterisation of mining waste, applying the current standard in accordance with the EPA standard and others, for flammability, corrosivity, reactivity, toxicity and pathogenicity. According to the test results, a judgment will be issued about the associated risk; and
  • Environmental monitoring of air quality parameters, electromagnetic radiation and day and night environmental noise will be examined in accordance with current regulations.

In this sense, Minera Chinalco is entrusting to AGQ Labs a specialised service for the monitoring and analysis of environmental samples, according to its experience and national accreditation, the company said.

AGQ Labs to keep environmental tabs on Glencore’s Contonga polymetallic mine

Base metals, Environmental, Mine operation news, Mining services, Precious metals, Water management, , , , , , , ,

AGQ Labs’ mining division has been awarded a contract to carry out the environmental monitoring of the quality of soil, water, plant and hydrobiological tissue at Glencore’s Contonga polymetallic mine, in Peru.

The Contonga mine, in Ancash, is owned by Glencore subsidiary Compañía Minera Los Quenuales. It is a polymetallic underground zinc, lead, copper and silver mine with more than 100 years of operating history, according to AGQ Labs. Glencore acquired the asset from Nyrstar back in September 2017.

The mining company, as part of its environmental commitment at the mine, performs environmental monitoring of its components to determine their chemical stability and the potential for acid mine generation, as well as their characterisation through complementary studies, AGQ Labs said.

AGQ Labs Mining will provide the sampling service and technical analytical support through a specialised service for the characterisation of soils, waters and plant tissue. This uses selective analytical techniques for the characterisation of the matrices under study.

For this, AGQ Labs uses a set of tests to define the quality of the soils under study through fertility tests and characterisation of the profiles.

Mobilisation of the different analytes under study are also characterised through leaching tests such as methodologies proposed by Tessier and the Flask Extraction Test. The characterisation of its acid generation capacity with ABA methodologies and mineralogy analysis is carried out with Thin Sheet Microscopy.

AGQ Labs said: “The characterisation works are complemented by the taxonomic classification of the most representative flora and the study of the waters through laboratory analyses of physicochemical and hydrobiological parameters.”

Envirosuite to acquire environmental monitoring solutions leader

Environmental, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, Sustainable mining, , ,

Envirosuite Ltd (EVS) says it has signed a binding agreement to acquire EMS Bruel & Kjaer Holdings, a global provider of continuous, unattended environmental monitoring solutions.

EVS says it sees significant opportunity for short-term cross-sell and up-sell opportunities across the respective industry sectors of EVS and EMS, including mining, Smart Cities, airports, waste and wastewater, construction and heavy industry sectors, and geographies in which the two businesses are currently active.

EMS’ solutions for mining include software as a service for demonstrating environmental compliance, vibration & noise monitoring terminals, noise loggers, blast overpressure microphones, site monitoring cameras, air quality monitors and noise mapping software.

The cash and shares transaction will see EVS purchase EMS on a cash-free, debt free basis, from its shareholder group, comprising the majority shareholders Macquarie Corporate Holdings and Spectris Group Holdings, as well as the EMS founders whose nominees hold a minority shareholding.

The combined group will have a highly complementary geographic fit, as outside of Australia EVS has established offices in Canada, Chile, Colombia, Spain and China, while EMS has offices in USA, Denmark, Spain and Taiwan, EVS said.

The vision is to become the leading global environmental technology platform for real-time decision making across the three major environmental domains – air, noise, and water, EVS said.

“With this acquisition, the combined group will provide leading solutions across air quality (including odour and dust), noise and vibration monitoring, and waste and wastewater. This will significantly build out the current platform offering,” the company said.

“For some time, the board has harboured a longer-term internal aspiration to achieve A$100 million ($68 million) in annual revenues with a strong annuity base, and it is the board’s view that this transaction brings that aspiration into the medium term.”