ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS FOR CERTIFICATION: VERIFICATION OF TECHNOLOGIES ENVIRONMENTAL (EA6)

ISSUE

A company has developed a new hydrometallurgical process to extract precious metals without the use of cyanide, an armful component to the environment. The company aims to get this new process recognized as a “durable technology” compared to conventional process available on the market.

The new international standard for "Environmental Technology Verification" (ETV) developed by Environment Canada allows companies to have their environmental technologies recognized across the world. The company, therefore, decided moving forward to obtaining this certification.

STS Canada has been mandated to support the company to conduct the various environmental assessments necessary to obtain this certification.

TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGE

Promote the recognition of this new process for extracting precious metals with low environmental impact as a more sustainable technology, by obtaining VTE certification from Environment Canada.

RECOMMENDED SOLUTION

As part of this project, STS Canada conducted a sustainable development analysis using an evaluation method developed by a chair in Eco-counseling, recognized by the United Nations.

STS Canada also carried out a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to compare the process emissions with those of the conventional cyanide process.

RESULTS

Following the completion of the sustainable development analysis, STS Canada was able to identify the benefits of the new process compared to the conventional cyanide process in terms of greenhouse gases (GHG), health and safety, and environmental impacts.

The LCA analysis carried out by STS Canada made it possible to theoretically quantify the reduction in GHGs emissions, cyanides, water, acid mine drainage (DMA), etc.

These two studies made it possible to generate the information necessary for the company to start its certification procedure. This information also provided the company with new approaches to communicate the benefits of their technology.