Can you give an overview of Veolia Water Technologies (Veolia) and the milestones achieved over the past years?

For the past 75 years, Veolia Water Technologies has been serving clients across Canada in various industrial applications, with a strong focus on mining. We continue to develop technologies and services to anticipate regulatory requirements and meet our client’s needs. Our expertise covers the entire water cycle — a crucial component of a mine’s daily operations. We provide a full range of water solutions for mining, including preliminary and detailed engineering, provision of standard and custom equipment, project management and maintenance services, as well as long-term operation, temporary mobile water solutions, and water treatment chemicals. As part of Veolia’s mission to lead ecological transformation, our main focus is discharge to the environment with an emphasis on toxicity to aquatic life as is showcased by our numerous references across the country.

In 2021, Veolia acquired Suez, and consequently, Veolia Water Technologies and Suez Water Technologies & Solutions (now Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions) are sister companies. The merger contributes to our efforts in creating a global champion of ecological transformation, allowing us to bring a full suite of services and capital equipment portfolio to our clients. From a revenue standpoint, 2022 was a record year for the company.

What services and solutions have Veolia brought mining firms in Québec?

Our mobile water services assets are very active in the mining space, and one of the top five global mining companies has recently extended its mobile contract from a two-year to a five-year application. Working with global mining companies, we are seeing a trend of long-term mobile contracts related to various mine water applications. Our Actiflo® high-rate clarification technologies are big in the mining space but we are also able to bring in membrane-based and ion exchange-based processes to offer a full suite of services to our clients.

The mining industry in Québec is currently very active, and when companies are looking to try and drive project schedules, they cannot wait 18 months to have a permanent wastewater treatment facility put in place. Veolia can install mobile assets for our clients to start treating water in just a few weeks compared to months or even years. We see the speed of delivery as a key decision factor for many of our mining clients. We are also seeing more long-term requirements for these solutions versus the short-term or emergency requirements we used to have in the past.

Can you discuss some of the technologies, such as Actiflo^® and HPD^®, Veolia is putting into the market?

Although Actiflo is quite a mature technology within Veolia, we continue to develop new process enhancements and applications to solve some of the most pressing water treatment issues faced by our mining clients. This small-footprint, high-rate clarification system is used to treat toxins and remove organic matter and is particularly well-suited for the removal of suspended solids, heavy metals, and other constituents of concern to ensure safe and compliant water supplies.

As far as HPD processes, they are positioned well in the mining sector as it relates to battery materials (Li, Ni, Co, Mn) from primary sources and recycling — all of which require concentration, purification, and ultimately, crystallization. These plants often have waste streams from which byproducts (sodium sulfate for example) and water can be recovered — often through thermal crystallization or zero liquid waste systems. Especially in the battery material market, the associated mining companies are increasingly focused on extracting these materials with the lowest possible carbon, water, and waste footprint.

How do you assess digitalization trends in the mining space?

We are seeing more interest from the mining industry to optimize and digitize their water management solutions. Digitization is also a key focus for Veolia, and we have created the Hubgrade platform allowing clients to view, evaluate, and remotely optimize their management of energy, water, and waste. This platform creates a continuous link with our customers, giving them access to information that is easy to understand and use. As mines are becoming more remote, digitization of services and operations is becoming key.