Integrated system for supplying clean water and clean energy to the mining industry

Abstract

Embodiments of this invention provide an integrated system for processing ore feedstock and RO treatment utilizing the principals of pumped storage hydroelectric technology including the use of an upper reservoir and lower reservoir. The integrated system includes a first subsystem that generates waste associated with processing the ore feedstock. In the integrated system, the waste includes the treatment of contaminated water. The integrated system further includes a second subsystem that treats the contaminated water included in the waste to generate recycled water and transmits the recycled water to the first subsystem. The integrated subsystem may also incorporate solar and/or wind power generation plants as a power source for the integrated system.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority benefit of the U.S. Provisional patent application titled, “SYSTEM INTEGRATING RENEWABLE ENERGY, SALT WATER PUMPED HYDROELECTRIC STORAGE, AND REVERSE OSMOSIS DESALINATION,” filed on Apr. 10, 2017 and having Ser. No. 62 / 483,879, this application also claims priority benefit of the U.S. Provisional patent application titled, “SYSTEM INTEGRATING RENEWABLE ENERGY, PUMPED HYDROELECTRIC STORAGE, AND REVERSE OSMOSIS DESALINATION FOR MINE DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATIONS,” filed on Jun. 1, 2017 and having Ser. No. 62 / 513,845. The subject matter of these related applications is hereby incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONField of the Invention[0002]Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to renewable energy and water recycling, and specifically, to an integrated system for supplying clean water and clean energy to the mining industry.Description of the Related Art[0003]The global mini...

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Benefits of technology

[0009]One advantage of the disclosed techniques is that the integrated system reduces the net cost and the environmental impact of operating a mine in several ways. In particular, the disclosed invention provides a technique for recycling waste water from mining processes, thereby reducing the amount of fresh sources of water used in the mining process. In addition, the environmental performance of these systems is improved by storing intermittently generated clean energy

Problems solved by technology

The global mining industry faces increasing scrutiny from government stakeholders, local communities and investors over compliance with increasingly stringent environmental regulations.

In particular, large-scale mine developments are typically associated with significant energy and water consumption requirements in order to economically extract ore from native rock and reduce the extracted ore to a high value concentrate for mineral extraction.

One drawback of renewable energy sources is their intermittency.

In particular, the seasonality and daily cycles of wind and solar resources may limit the reliability of various typ

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