Anglogold Ashanti – Obuasi Mine, Ghana

Safe environmental discharge of mine water effluent with plant relocation in mind.

THE CHALLENGE

AngloGold Ashanti needed to treat excess mine water effluent to very stringent environmental discharge requirements at their Obuasi Mine in Ghana. Over and above this immediate need was the planned future relocation of the mining areas. This meant that the design – both from an operational perspective and relocation of infrastructure – needed to be robust and relatively easy to move.

OUR SOLUTION

PROXA provided a containerised solution designed to deal with variable feed streams, resulting in operational robustness. The advantage of containerised units meant that they could be placed on site without any installation of equipment and they made future relocation possible.

HOW PROXA ADDED VALUE

Local skills were developed in a very short timeframe. Local staff members worked alongside PROXA engineers and operators in order to “learn on the go” and gain the necessary skills to successfully operate the water treatment plant. PROXA also included remote monitoring. This is so that management can monitor plant performance, supervisors can assist remotely and PROXA engineers can review performance and propose operational and training interventions. The monitoring equipment also enables the generation of historic information for proof of compliance with environmental discharge standards to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

FEED WATER

Mine effluent from Tailings Storage Facility (TSF)

PRODUCT WATER

Ghana EPA-compliant environmental discharge.

PROCESS

VALUE ADDED SERVICE

PROXA performed the installation and commissioning of the plant on this remote site, developed local skills to facilitate continued robust operation of the plant and is monitoring the plant remotely to propose interventions.

Client: AngloGold Ashanti