As part of the preparations for establishing our water treatment plant, extensive tests were carried out in a pilot facility at the Viscaria mine. The pilot plant was connected to the water-filled tunnels and shafts from the previous operations in the 1980s and 1990s and had the capacity to treat up to 100 m³ of water per hour. The tests showed that 95–99 percent of metals such as zinc, copper and uranium could be removed, a groundbreaking result both from a Swedish and a global perspective.
The pilot facility served as an important step in verifying the technology and demonstrating that the water can be treated responsibly. The experience gained from the trials was used as supporting material in our environmental permit application and has formed the basis for the water treatment plant we have now established for long-term operation.
In the film below, Viscaria’s former Head of Environment and Sustainability, Anders Lundkvist, describes the different stages of the water treatment process.
