Talvivaara suffers leakage, production suspended

Talvivaara Mining Company has announced a leakage in the gypsum pond at its mine site meaning that metals production is temporarily suspended.

The company said that while the levees of the pond are intact, water is filtering through the lower part of the levee on the east side of the pond.

The root cause and the extent of the leakage are being investigated, and the immediate safeguarding measures have been taken. The safety dams below the gypsum pond will be utilized to contain the leakage within the mining concession area. The water in the gypsum pond contains more metals and sulphates than Talvivaara's normal purified discharge water.

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"As a precautionary measure, the company's metals recovery plant has been temporarily suspended in order to avoid further pumping of tailings into the gypsum pond while the leakage is being repaired," the firm said.

"During the shutdown, the piping installations required for the commissioning of the reverse osmosis plants will also be completed. The piping installation work was originally scheduled for a later date in November. The reverse osmosis plants will be used to purify the sulphate-containing discharge waters, and they will reduce the raw water in-take and improve overall water balance management of the mine."

The group added that it anticipates restarting the metals recovery plant on Wednesday, November 7th.

NR