Biochar filter for radium remediation in mining waters

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Canada is one of the world's uranium producers, accounting for about 18% of global production. Currently, 20 uranium mines are closed or decommissioned in Canada. Remediation may be a delicate tradeoff due to the vast quantity of the water to be treated prior to be released to the natural environment and the limited tools available for remediation. In the past few years, sorption of radionuclides by zeolite, hematite, diatomite, activated carbon, etc. have also been tested for radium removal. However, these adsorbents are relatively expensive. An alternative approach based on low cost and green sorbent, the biochar, has attracted much attention recently due to the abundance of functional groups and its proven role in metal removal and soil remediation. In this project, we propose to use sawmill waste biochar for removal of radium from decommissioned uranium mine effluents. Our goals are to (1) assess the potential of biochar to concentrate radium from mine waters and (2) prospect its potential for application to reducing radium concentration at the mine wastewater treatment plant.