The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has announced its support for developing a program to recover usable metals from acid mine drainage, according to a release from the DEP.
Pennsylvania taxpayers and businesses spend more than $12 million per year to treat 23 billion gallons of acid mine drainage from active and abandoned mines, according to Pa. Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty. She says the drainage contains “millions of dollars worth of dissolved iron, aluminum, manganese, gold and rare earth metals in consistent and sustainable amounts.”
McGinty says the state’s economy and environment could benefit from using the drainage material as a resource.
The proposal was discussed at the annual Resource Recovery Conference, held in November in Johnstown, Pa. At the conference, J. Scott Roberts, Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary of Mineral Resources, said that some Pennsylvania companies are already developing programs and technology to use metals recovered from mine drainage.
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