Mining activities in the Bor and Majdanpek mining areas in Eastern Serbia started in 1903 and 1961, respectively. Environmental problems in the Bor mining area began after the opening of the Bor mine. Long‐term pollution of river water in the Bor and Majdanpek mining areas has an environmental impact on East Europe because all of the river water from these mining areas flows into the Danube River. However, the sizes of areas with pollution and the differences between the environmental impacts of the Bor and Majdanpek mining areas are not clear. In order to determine the effects of mining activities on river water in the study area, creation of geochemical maps showing the distributions of sulfate, heavy metals, and arsenic; estimation of threshold values to discriminate anomalous values from background values; and comparison of the environmental impacts of the two mining areas were carried out. High concentrations of SO42−, Fe, As, Cu, and Mn were found in the Bor River, Krivelj River, and Bela River located in the Bor mining area. These rivers are characterized by acidic pH ranging from 2.9 to 6.2. High concentrations of these components were also measured in the Small Pek River and the upper reach of the Pek River. These rivers are located in the Majdanpek mining area and are characterized by weakly alkaline pH (7.3–8.4). The acidic river water in the Bor mining area transports large quantities of heavy metals and arsenic downstream (6,900 t/year of Fe, 42 t/year of As, 910 t/year of Cu, and 187 t/year of Mn). On the other hand, the weakly alkaline river water in the Majdanpek mining area transports smaller quantities of heavy metals and arsenic downstream (160 t/year of Fe, 0.1 t/year of As, 6 t/year of Cu, and 272 t/year of Mn). The environmental impact of the Bor mining area is significantly larger than that of the Majdanpek mining area. In addition, on the basis of the distribution of anomalous values in river water, pollution caused by mining activities reaches the Danube River, which is located more than 100 km from the Bor and Majdanpek mining areas. Concentrations of SO42−, Fe, As, Cu, and Mn in the Bela River in the Bor mining area have been greatly decreased after mixing of acidic polluted water of the Bela River with water of the Timok River containing a high bicarbonate concentration. This fact suggests that river water in the Bor and Majdanpek mining areas has sufficient capacity for neutralization. Considering appropriate countermeasures of environmental reclamation, such as artificial neutralization at some important sources of waste water before discharging the waste water from the mining sites, there is a possibility for environmental reclamation in both mining areas because unpolluted river water in the study area has sufficient capacity for neutralization in a natural system.

No abstract

A natural zeolite from Serbia was employed for the removal of heavy metals from acid mine drainage (AMD) generated in the area of copper mine. The efficiency of the natural zeolite samples was tested on AMD that contained manganese, copper, zinc, nickel and cadmium ions in the concentrations above the maximal allowed, according to existing legislation. The results of X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses of natural zeolite having a particle size of ¹1 + 0.3 mm, confirmed that the clinoptilolite (Al 1.6 H 30 Ca 2.06 O 47.56 Si 16.4 ) is a dominant mineral of mine tuff. A dynamic method was used for the experiments in order to simulate real conditions in an industrially relevant environment. The effect of the flow rate of AMD, type of columns and zeolite classes on the degree of adsorption of the heavy metals from AMD was investigated. The results of chemical analyses of treated AMD samples at a flow rate of 0.0033 dm 3 s ¹1 which corresponds to the spontaneous outflow from the real accumulation indicate that concentrations of heavy metals are not decreased below that allowed for defined recipient class, except for copper. Also, these results show that the heavy metal ion removal serie for the industrially relevant environment can be given as: Cu > Zn > Cd > Mn > Ni.

Otpadne vode koje se generišu u pogonima RTB-a Bor, bilo direktno tokom tekuće proizvodnje ili indirektno usled razlaganja odložene rudničke raskrivke i flotacijske jalovine formiranjem kiselih drenažnih voda, zagađuju Borsku i Kriveljsku reku, koja se dalje uliva u reku Timok, odnosno reku Dunav. Ključne reči: kisele rudničke vode, teški metali, RTB Bor, zagađenje reka * Institut za rudarstvo i metalurgiju Bor ** Ovaj rad je proistekao iz Projekta broj TR: 37001 "Uticaj rudarskog otpada iz RTB-a Bor na zagađenje vodotokova sa predlogom mera i postupka za smanjenje štetnog dejstva na životnu sredinu" koji je finansiran sredstvima Ministarstva prosvete, nauke i tehnološkog razvoja Republike Srbije.

The paper presents stabilization and solidification (S/S) methods of hazardous waste, depending on the type of waste and content of hazardous and harmful components as the pretreatment method of hazardous waste prior to disposal on landfills. Also, the paper present the impact of selected additives and the aging conditions of the process product on the effectiveness of the S/S processes. Process efficiency was measured by mobility of hazardous and harmful components. Representation of some processes of stabilization and solidification in the pretreatment of hazardous waste prior to disposal in the world are shown. The aim of this paper is systematization of data and selection of optimal Solidification/Stabilization process for further research in the field of reduction the impact of mining waste on the environment.