Mining operations of all types have used water throughout history both for separating valuable ores from surrounding rock – harvesting – and for holding and containing the wastewater that is generated by the mining process. Historically, however, both open pit and underground mining operations simply pumped water into tailing ponds to separate powdered rock from the minerals or metals being mined. Such wastewater is often highly acidic and contaminated, and sometimes caused extensive damage to the surrounding environment, rendering it unusable in some cases for generations.
Mining of any kind, whether it’s for potash, gas and oil, metals or mineral deposits, requires some sort of pond to separate desirable mined material from the waste. Today, well-designed evaporation ponds offer the mining industry an efficient and environmentally-safe way to do just that. Massive evaporation ponds allow the metals and minerals to dissolve in water or to settle to the bottom of such ponds for later collection. The required liners not only prevent damage to the existing soil and groundwater, but they isolate materials which can then be harvested without additional processing. Some of the most extensive, well-designed evaporation ponds in the world have been built for the mining industry, with features that optimize each specific mining goal.
