Mining Incinerators for Hazardous Waste on Remote Mine Sites
Mining generates waste that can't wait for a collection truck that isn't coming. Cyanide packaging, oily residues, contaminated reagent bags, and clinical waste accumulate on site regardless of how remote the operation is, and every jurisdiction your mine operates in requires you to manage it compliantly.
ESI Scholer has been supplying containerised incineration systems to mining operations since 2006. We started with cyanide packaging incineration in partnership with a major reagent supplier, and we have been refining that capability across gold, copper, and resource operations on four continents ever since.
Our units are not adapted from general industrial equipment. They are engineered specifically for the waste streams, site conditions, and logistical realities of remote mining.
The Waste Problem Every Mine Site Faces
Mine site waste is not a single problem. It is several problems at once, and they require different technical responses within the same operational footprint.
Cyanide-Contaminated Packaging
Sodium cyanide arrives in timber boxes and plastic liner bags. After use, those containers are classified hazardous waste. They cannot be landfilled, stockpiled indefinitely, or transported off-site without documented chain-of-custody and significant freight cost. On-site incineration destroys the contaminated packaging at source, reducing the liability and the logistics bill simultaneously.
Reagent Bags & Jumbo Bags
Processing reagents including hydrated lime, sodium hydroxide, activated carbon, and flocculants arrive in disposable bulk bags and jumbo bags. After use, these packaging materials carry contamination from the reagents they contained. Accumulated volumes can become a significant waste management problem without a purpose-built disposal pathway.
Liquid Waste & IBC Contents
HCl solution, process liquids, and other chemicals arrive or are generated in IBCs. Our incinerator designs include direct IBC loading capability, eliminating the need to decant or manually handle hazardous liquid waste before incineration.
General & Clinical Waste
Mine camps generate general waste that accumulates rapidly without collection services. Site medical facilities generate clinical waste that must be managed under health regulations regardless of how remote the site is. Our systems handle both within the same containerised footprint.
How Our Mining Incinerators Work
ESI Scholer units use a controlled high temperature batch incineration process. This is not a simple burn chamber. It is a two-stage thermal treatment system designed to handle the variable composition and unpredictable heat release rates of real mining waste streams.
Primary Combustion Chamber (PCC)
Waste is loaded and heated through a carefully staged combustion cycle. Rather than burning at full intensity from the start, the system progressively builds temperature to match how the waste behaves as it burns. This controlled approach manages gas release, eliminates smoke, and ensures the process stays within the parameters the system is designed for, regardless of what the waste contains.
Secondary Combustion Chamber (SCC)
Gases produced in the PCC pass directly into the SCC, where they are subjected to high-temperature oxidation with excess air and turbulent mixing. A minimum two-second gas residence time at operating temperature ensures complete destruction of odours, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and other combustible compounds before anything reaches the stack.
Emissions Performance
For operators requiring third-party emissions evidence, our units have been independently tested at active mining operations under real operating conditions.
Results from accredited testing at an active gold mine demonstrated:
- Dioxins and furans: 0.04 ng I-TEQ/Nm3 against the EU IED limit of 0.10 ng I-TEQ/Nm3
- Hydrogen chloride (HCl): approximately 2 mg/Nm3 against the EU limit of 10 mg/Nm3
- Sulphur dioxide (SO2): approximately 28 mg/Nm3 against the EU limit of 50 mg/Nm3
- Carbon monoxide (CO): 3.44 mg/Nm3 against the EU limit of 50 mg/Nm3
These results were produced at an operational mine site under normal batch loading conditions, not in controlled laboratory conditions. They represent the real-world emissions performance of the equipment as deployed.
The Containerised Format
Why It Matters on Mine Sites
- Housed in standard ISO containers that ship by road, sea, rail, or air using the same freight that services the mine for other cargo
- No purpose-built building required on site, the container structure is the building
- Relocatable as the mine footprint changes or as operations wind down and move
- Available in 10, 20, and 40-foot container formats to match the waste volume and site footprint
- Minimal utility requirements: fuel supply, water, and electrical connection only
Loading Configurations
Waste loading is a safety-critical operation on mine sites handling cyanide and other hazardous materials. ESI Scholer units are available with multiple loading configurations to suit the waste type, volume, and operator ergonomics at each specific site.
Fork Trolley Loader
Designed for cyanide timber boxes and large plastic packaging, the fork trolley system allows the operator to load pre-staged containers directly into the incinerator without manual handling of the packaging. The loader accepts multiple IBC-sized chambers per cycle.
Direct IBC Loading
For liquid waste in IBCs, the incinerator doors are designed to accept direct IBC loading without decanting. This eliminates a double-handling step and the associated spill risk from manual transfer of hazardous liquids.
Crane or Forklift Loading
For large box units, loading by site forklift or crane is standard. Units are sized to accept cyanide timber boxes in their original delivery configuration.
Recent Mining Projects
Containerised incinerators operating across gold, copper, oil and gas projects worldwide.
Lihir Island
Two containerised units supplied to an active gold mining operation: a top and front-loading unit and a GZ-5 Box unit, both fitted with fork trolley loader systems for cyanide packaging. This is one of our most complete island-based mining deployments, handling multiple burn cycles daily with final burndown to sterile, inert ash.
Newmont Ahafo
Containerised hazardous waste incinerator supplied to one of West Africa's largest producing gold mines. Delivery included navigation of Ghanaian import and environmental permitting requirements as part of the project scope.
B2 Gold Fekola
Second containerised unit supplied to an active gold mine in Mali, building on an established supply relationship. The Fekola site has been independently emission-tested with results well within EU IED limits, confirming the real-world emissions performance of the installed equipment.
Oil Search, Kobi
6m3 containerised hazardous waste incinerator supplied to an active oil and gas extraction site, part of a long-term supply relationship spanning more than a decade and multiple PNG sites.
Kurmuk Gold Mine
GZ-2BU containerised unit for cyanide and hazardous waste incineration at an active gold mining operation, engineered for the specific waste streams and remote access constraints of the site.
Request a Site Assessment
Tell us about your operation, waste streams, and site location. Our engineering team will provide a sizing recommendation, configuration options, and applicable emissions compliance guidance for your jurisdiction.