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TECHNOLOGY MAKES CALIFORNIA MORE MINING FRIENDLY Domestic mine article by Harold Hough Feb/March 2007 Think of California and most miners think of an anti-mining state. That however isn't totally true. Admittedly, California does bind up businesses – mining especially, with red tape. However, mining companies can make headway in this eco-crazed state with a right state of mind. An example of a mining company that is thriving in California is U. S. Borax, which is owned by Rio Tinto. Despite California's heavy regulations, U.S. Borax has received Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award for Sustainable Practices. The "Governator" praised all five winning companies for, "a deep commitment to balancing environmental preservation and protection with the need to keep California's economy growing." That's a different vision of U.S. Borax than the public one of household cleaners, twenty mule teams, and a TV show hosted by Ronald Reagan. U.S. Borax began doing business 125 years ago in California and today mines at its open pit operation in Boron, CA. This mine, which supplies nearly half of the world's borax was discovered in 1925 and went into production in 1927. Originally it was an underground mine for mining tincal ore; the principal sodium borate mineral. In the late 1950s it became an open pit operation for mining both tincal and kernite, which is used for manufacturing borates and boric acid. At the same time the mine became an open pit operation; processing facilities were built on site. This allowed it to become one of the major suppliers of borates and boric acid. Most of the processing of the borates for agricultural, industrial, and specialty applications occurs at Boron and at a second refining and distribution operation in Wilmington, CA in the Port of Los Angeles. Although Los Angeles has some of the toughest environmental regulations in the world, the Wilmington plant has managed to meet and exceed government standards. In the early 1990s, US Borax acquired a new burner technology in order to lower oxide emissions even though the current burner was meeting standards. This technology mixed the natural gas fuel and air more efficiently to produce a better burn and lower emissions. WATER RECYCLING Water has always been a critical part of borax mining and processing. A hundred years ago, the Death Valley operations had to bring water from the nearest spring several miles away on the other side of the mountains. Even the famed twenty mule teams had a 500-gallon iron tank to supply drivers and mules during the trip through the desert. Today's challenge isn't getting enough water for processing, but disposing of the water after it has been used. Water is disposed by pumping it into surface impoundments or ponds so the hot desert sun can evaporate it. The company had to be able to provide evaporation for over 700 gallons of wastewater a minute. Normally that takes about half a square mile of surface area. Once again, US Borax looked towards technology for an answer. They developed a breakthrough technology team to find a way to lower water consumption. They managed to modify processing in order to lower water consumption to 200 gallons a minute, which allowed the mine to actually decommission some of the ponds that were being used. These are only some of the highlights of U.S. Borax's focus on technology to make the mine more environmentally friendly. It has invested money in air quality monitoring for the area and maintains an ISO 14001 certification of its environmental management systems. It has also earned membership in the EPA's National Performance Track Program – a program that recognizes only about 300 companies nationwide for environmental excellence. Environmental standards haven't negatively impacted safety. The mine has a workplace safety record five times better than the national average and has received recognition from MSHA as the best amongst large US mining operations. The result of this effort is a record that has allowed it to operate in the toughest regulatory environment in the United States. Although most mines don't have to work so hard to meet environmental standards, US Borax does show the way for other mines, as regulatory restrictions become more challenging in the next few years. | |||
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