Crown Solutions, a Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies company, is to supply the initial equipment for a new Water Treatment Plant (WTP) to Coeur Palmarejo in Mexico. The Palmarejo mine is an operating silver-gold mine in the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains of northwestern Mexico and is owned by Coeur D’Alene Mines, based in Idaho. The objective of the project is to improve internal water balance in a sustainable solution so that water can be recycled from the tailings pond back to the mill.

The treatment plant will include two trains of ACTIFLO clarifiers and Hydrotech Discfilters. The process also includes chemical feed systems and mixing/reaction tanks. The treatment solution accomplishes residual cyanide destruction, total suspended solids and metals removal and filtration for water that is recycled back to the mill. The Palmarejo Mine will also utilize the services of Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Mexico for operational support. The new WTP is scheduled to be commissioned in mid-2011.

Elsewhere, Vale has selected HPD, another Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies company, to provide the engineering design for evaporation and crystallisation equipment for the Carnalita potash project in the state of Sergipe in Brazil. The award is part of the first phase of development for the initial 1.2 Mt/y production of potassium chloride, which is expected to begin in 2015. This project will be the largest potash extraction facility in Brazil.