RESEARCH at KJEØY

VanProd Innovation to enhanced recovery of vanadium from waste streams in the Nordic region

Separate research page

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Hydrogeochemical Processes in the Ballangsleire (Råna - Nickel Olivine) Tailings deposit

January 2012 - present

KREC is researching the hydrogeochemical processes taking place in tailings deposited or to be deposited sub-sea and old shoreline deposits. The main issue is the mineral reaction rates in saline environment. Samples have been collected from the tailings on the Ballangsleira tailings deposits from the former Nickel-Olivine mining operations of the Bruvannet-Råna deposit. The deposit is a nickel sulphide -pyrrhotite massive and disseminated deposit in an ultramafic complex approximately 40 km south of Narvik, Northern Norway. Samples collected are being run in column leach experiments as undisturbed sample. Leachates are being analyzed together with mineralogical and sequential chemical extraction analysis. Monitoring wells for groundwater flow and geochemical evaluations will be installed in the summer 2013 to evaluate the hydrogeochemical processes taking place in the tailings place on the shore line. This study forms the basis for a PhD dissertation in cooperation with University of Oslo, University of Miskolc, Hungary, and AGH- Krakow, Poland.

KREC and the Norwegian Research Council are sponsoring the project.


Nussir-Ulveryggen Tailings Leaching

June 2012- present

Nussir ASA is planning to deposit tailings at 90 meters depth in a fjord near Kvalsund, Northern Norway. As part of a PhD-research tailings samples are subjected to saline water, seawater and fresh water to both evaluate the mineral reaction rate and leaching rates and to evaluate methods to be sued for such investigations. Leachate samples are analyzed together with mineralogy and mineral chemistry analysis pre and post leaching experiments.

KREC, Nussir ASA, and the Norwegian Research Council are sponsoring the project


Mine Waste Kinetic Tests (Humidity Cell Tests) Evaluation


January 2012-present


European standardisation committee has recently finished a Guideline for kinetic testing. This guideline is emphasising a lot of complications with the type of testing. KREC has initiated a project to evaluate some of the uncertainties in these test methods. Sulphide containing samples from Retzc porphyry copper deposit in Hungary have been split in different grain sizes have been subjected to kinetic for 6-12 months. Other samples same deposit are subjected to kinetic testing with different amount of water and different shapes of columns.


Waste Material Neutralisation, Titania Mine


February 2010 - present


Titania AS, located in southwest Norway is producing ilmenite from ultramafic rocks. Main processing is through flotation with a discharge of approximately 2 mill ton tailings a year in a flow through tailings pond. The seepage water from the tailings dam is neutral, but with elevated nickel concentration. To evaluate the nickel mobility and hydrogeochemical processes within the tailings pond KREC has been running up-flow column experiments and humidity cell tests. Materials characterisation (e.g. ABA, SCE, SEM) has also been performed in order to evaluate the results of the experiments. Evaluation of neutralisation potential and nickel immobilisation for tailings and waste rocks generated at the ilmenite (titanium) mine.

Titania AS sponsors the project.



Nickel Leaching, Titania Mine


August 2010 - present


Titania AS, located in south-west Norway is producing ilmenite from an ultramafic rocks. Main processing is through flotation with a discharge of approximately 2 mill ton tailings a year in a flow through tailings pond. The Tailings contain nickel that are potentially leachable. KREC is running experiments to evalauate how nickel can economically be leached out of the tailings using acidic process water from the drying plant.

Titania AS sponsors the project.


Hydrogeochmical processes in mine waste material from 7 mines in Bolivia.


June 2009 - present


Tailings and waste rock from many hydrothermal tin-silver sulphide deposit has been sampled. Samples have been mineralogically and geochemically characterized. Approximately 25 humidity cell tests (as columns and shoe boxes have been running for up to 3.5 years to evaluate long term geochemical behavior of the sulfide rich material. Leachate has been collected and analyzed weekly for periods of 2-4 months. Solid samples from the columns have been collected to evaluate mineralogical changes within the columns. Different ways of calculating the reaction rates are being developed through the project. One MSc student worked on the project (completed in January 2010, and one PhD student is currently working on the project.

KREC and University of Miskolc, Hungary are the sponsors of this project. Several papers has been published from this research


CO2 Mineral sequestration experiments High Voltage Electric Pulse technology


2009-present


CO2-mineral sequestration is besides CCS a method for reducing the CO2 emission. Silicate minerals are the source of elements for the sequestration. Silicates are slow reacting and therefore, need an added process for increasing the reaction rate. KREC has in cooperation with Norwegian Geological Survey, and Dr. Richard Bialecki been experimenting with electric pulse technology to pre-activate olivine for enhancing the reaction rate.

The project has resulted in one patent application and several presentations.

Nordland Fylkeskommune, Inovasjon Norge, KREC and Norges Geologiske Undersøkelse sponsor the project.


CO2 sequestration using Mine Waste Material


November 2005 - present


KREC has been evaluating the potential for using waste rocks from the Kiruna and Malmberget iron mines for CO2 mineral sequestration. The experiments have been in several phases from batch testing of roll bottles, small up flow column tests (200 gr material), and larger drip column tests (6 kg material). Leaching solution has been carbonic acid and in batch tests and up-flow tests compared with other acids. One Ph.D. student has been involved in the project for 2 years. Results have been presented at several conferences, and three publications are in preparation. One patent has also been developed as a result of research.

LKAB, Kiruna, Sweden has been the main sponsor of the research project.


Hard Pan Formation


2004 -2007 (at Kjeoy, Norway and Hanover, Germany)


Developing programs to model hard-pan formation I tailings and waste rocks as part of a research team organized by German Geological Survey, BGR, Hanover, Germany. Model was set to simulate field and laboratory result and to predict development of such systems as part of a remediation tool. The work was performed in cooperation with Los Alamos national Lab., New Mexico, USA

BGR, Hanover, Germany


Hydrogeochemical Processes in Tailings Waste Rocks and Characterization Tyrone Mine


1998 - 2008 (Tyrone, New Mexico, USA)


Porphyry copper operation. Activities include field work; chemical, mineralogical, and water quality analysis; managing researchers, field operation and drilling crews; performing data evaluation and geochemical modeling; writing reports; evaluating environmental risk based on mitigation alternatives; and being called in as an expert witness. Cover material evaluation, closure plan development, surface water and groundwater quality impact assessment

Freeport McMoran (former Phelps Dodge Tyrone Mine) sponsored the project


Hydrogeochemical Processes in San Miguel Tailings, Potosi, Bolivia


June 2005 - 2006


The Potosi Silver tin hydrothermal deposit has been mined since the late 1500 hundred. It was mined for silver in the early years and is now primarily mined for tin. The main waste material from the operation jig tailings and fine tailings, constitute approximately 6 million tons. KREC in cooperation with the state own mining company COMIBOL has been investigating the hydrogeochemical processes in the tailings ponds to evaluate potential long-term environmental effects. Geochemically and hydrologically characterisation (e.g. drilling, logging, well monitoring) was performed on the tailings and from tailings samples (mineralogy, ABA, SCE etc). The work has resulted in one publication.


The work was sponsored by COMIBOL and Danida

COMIBOL, Ministry of Mining and Hydrocarbons, La Paz, Bolivia / Danida


Hydrogeochmical processes in mine waste material from 7 mines in Bolivia.


June 2009 - present


Tailings and waste rock from many hydrothermal tin-silver sulphide deposit has been sampled. Samples have been mineralogically and geochemically characterized. Approximately 25 humidity cell tests (as columns and shoe boxes have been running for up to 3.5 years to evaluate long term geochemical behavior of the sulfide rich material. Leachate has been collected and analyzed weekly for periods of 2-4 months. Solid samples from the columns have been collected to evaluate mineralogical changes within the columns. Different ways of calculating the reaction rates are being developed through the project. One MSc student worked on the project (completed in January 2010, and one PhD student is currently working on the project.

KREC and University of Miskolc, Hungary are the sponsors of this project.