Investigation of the fate of wastewater phosphorus within the processed kimberlite containment area at BHP's Ekati(TM) Diamond mine (Northwest Territories)

The BHP Ekati™ Diamond mine discharges treated wastewater effluent to the processed kimberlite containment area. The goal of this research was to determine the adsorption of phosphorus on to the kimberlite portion of mine tailings going to the processed kimberlite containment area by conducting controlled laboratory isotherm investigations.; The results indicate that adding the wastewater effluent to the kimberlite mine tailings may be an effective method to adsorb the phosphorus found in the wastewater effluent. Using the Freundlich model, approximately 0.5 kg of dried kimberlite per litre of wastewater effluent is needed at a temperature of 18°C to reduce the concentration of phosphorus from 10 mg/L to 0.1 mg/L. The addition of coagulant and flocculant had no affect on the adsorption of phosphorus. Changes in pH and temperature did not cause any desorption of phosphorus.