Friday, 23rd November 2007 (2037 views)

A man in Billings, Montana has asked permission to extract precious metals, including gold, from water in a mine shaft on the Steward mining property, according to the Montana Standard.

The owner of Precious Metals Recovery, John Reid, claims that based on tests he conducted a few years ago, it is possible to extract around $1.6 million (£778,053) of gold each year if up 20 gallons of water are drawn from the mine each minute.

According to Mr Reid, a remotely-monitored automated system would pump water and sludge from the mine shaft, where it would be dried and smelted. He estimates that between 90 and 95 per cent of the dissolved gold could be recovered in this way, with the water then returned to the mine shaft.

"In that respect I'm cleaning up the water," Mr Reid told the newspaper.

His proposal is currently under review by a committee from the Butte-Silver Bow council of commissioners.

In 2006, the Steward Mine was examined by the US Environmental Protection Agency to determine changes in the stable isotope composition and geochemistry of water located in the mine shaft.

 

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