Effectiveness of various cover scenarios on the rate of sulfide oxidation of mine tailings

Romano, Connie G.; Mayer, K. Ulrich; Jones, David R.; Ellerbroek, David A.; Blowes, David W.

doi:10.1016/s0022-1694(02)00348-7

Cited by 55 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Some previous work (Romano et al 2003;Demer et al 2007) suggest the utility of NAF tailings as a cover material over other construction, such as the reclamation process, however, this section is not recommended for this case. Although the tailings in this study are classified as ''NAF'' and their pH were adjusted to maintain approximately 9-10 in the cyanidation process before releasing to the TSF, a high leaching rate of heavy metals (e.g., Pb, Mn) even at neutral pH is reported herein.…”

Section: Conclusion and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Chemical characteristics and acid drainage assessment of mine tailings from Akara Gold mine in Thailand

et al. 2009

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Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is a great concern in many abandoned mines because of its adverse effect on the environment. In mining processes, many kinds of wastes are produced. These wastes may become eventually sources of environmental degradation. The focus of this study is the geochemical characterization of the end-processed tailings generated by Akara Gold Mine, the biggest gold mine in Thailand. Tailing samples were systematically collected for analyses of chemical and mineralogical compositions. As a result, their quantitative chemical analyses are slightly different from place to place, but mineral components cannot be clearly differentiated. For instance, it may be assumed that the end-processed tailings, which were a mixture between high and low grade concentrates, would have similar mineral components. However, the little variation of chemical composition may be caused by the ore refining processes that are somehow varied in proportion to chemical additives, alkali cyanide and quick lime in particular. In addition, clay composition in ore-bearing layers may also influence alumina content of tailings, accordingly. Distribution of the tailings is not related to depth and distance of the tailing storage pond because the disposal has sped them over the pond during operation. Total heavy metals of the tailing samples were analyzed on the basis of the EPA 3052 method. Consequently, the most toxic elements (e.g., Co, Cu, Cd, Cr, Pb, Ni and Zn) were found falling within the standard of Thailand Soil Quality Standards for Habitat and Agriculture. Only Mn appears to have higher content than the standard. In addition, leaching tests proved that these tailings contain low metal concentrations. As a result, at pH 2, Mn can leach out exceeding the Thailand Surface Water Quality Standard for Agricultural (Mn \1 ppm) and the Thailand Industrial Effluent Standard (\5 ppm). Although leachate at pH 4 and neutral conditions contains lower Mn than the Industrial Effluent Standard it still exceeds the surface water quality standard. Interestingly, Pb can be leached out exceeding both standards (0.2 ppm for the industrial effluent standard and 0.05 ppm for the surface water quality standard). For Ni leaching, its concentration is lower than the Industrial Effluent Standard at all pH conditions but still exceeds the Surface Water Standard at pH 2 and 4. This information should be taken into consideration for further environmental monitoring. Acid generating potential of the tailings was estimated using acid-base accounting (ABA) and net acid generation (NAG) tests. The results of ABA and NAG tests show that the tailing samples contain a high amount of sulfur. However, they also contain high acid neutralization capacity. Consequently, these tailings may not have potential to generate acid drainage; in the other words, they can be classified as a non-acid forming (NAF) material. However, since these tailings contain some heavy metals

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Section: Conclusion and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Chemical characteristics and acid drainage assessment of mine tailings from Akara Gold mine in Thailand

et al. 2009

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“…The authors developed a new analytical expressions to calculate oxygen flux and compared their results to a numerical treatment of Fick s law. Romano et al (2003) studied the effectiveness of various cover scenarios on limiting the rate of sulfide oxidation of mine tailings using a numerical analysis with the model PYROX. The authors report that modeling results for a 100 year scenario indicate that a water cover alone or an exposed CFT (cassiterite float tails) cover alone are both less effective than a combined cover configuration.…”

Section: Protection Prevention and Restorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Minerals and Mine Drainage

Marchand¹,

Plumb²

2004

Water Environment Research

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This chapter reviews the literature relating to environmental processes that affect mineral dissolution reactions and the generation of acid mine drainage (AMD), the fate and transport of metal contaminants within the environment, the toxic influences of metals and mine drainage on aquatic species, characterization of abandoned mines and their potential for contamination, and technologies for remediation of mining-impacted systems or removing metals from wastewater streams. SITE CHARACTERIZATION AND ASSESSMENTAslibekian and Moles (2003) performed an environmental risk assessment of metal-contaminated soils in the vicinity of an abandoned silver mine in Tipperary, Ireland. The authors report a procedure for conducting preliminary evaluation of environmental risk and found that the most affected areas were floodplains located 2-3 km downstream from the site that were influenced predominantly by surface runoff and seasonal groundwater seepage from the abandoned mine. A study by Tarras-Wahlberg and Lane (2003) investigated sediment-associated metal transport (Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn) in the Puyango river basin, Ecuador. The site was assessed by combining both the suspended sediment rating method and Monte Carlo simulations for wet and dry years.The authors report that in wet years, the metal polluted sediment load accounted for a small proportion of the yield estimates whereas the in dry years the metal-polluted 1685 sediments had a more significant effect and posed a more severe environmental impact. Fleit and Lakatos (2003) studied the accumulation of metals (Cd, Hg, Pb, Cu, and As) in river sediments and uptake of the metals by fish in the Tisza and Azamos Rivers (in Romania) following mining related spills. The study results indicate that the bioavailability of the metals varied within the river systems; however, the metal content of the fish was found to be lower than regulatory standards. In an effort to identify the effects of a waste mine tailing detention pond on water quality in the Mediterranean Sea near northern Cyprus (Greece), Gokcekus and co-workers (2003) conducted a study that combined water sampling and wave modeling techniques. A combined sediment and water quality study was performed in January and May 1999 by Hudson-Edwards et al. (2003) on the Agrio-Guadiamar river systems (Aznalcollar, Spain), which had been the site of a mining spill in April 1998. The authors report that following initial clean-up operations, the sediment metal concentrations were still higher than pre-spill conditions and reactive sulfidic material continued to undergo oxidation reactions, as indicated by higher dissolved metal concentrations in May 1999 compared to January 1999. The authors also report the following sequence of sediment mobility: Zn>Cd>Cu>Pb>As.A number of studies were performed to characterize water quality and sedimentassociated metals in the Odiel River (Huelva, Spain). Sainz et al. (2003b) attempted to characterize the primary sources responsible for mine drainage within the basin -mine dumps, active m...

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“…According to the knowledge of people for the mechanism of pyrite decomposition, if it is no contact between pyrite and oxidants (e.g., O 2 and Fe 3+ ), the rate of pyrite oxidation could be suppressed. For years, several techniques have been developed to reduce the oxidation of sulfide minerals, including bactericides [14], neutralization [15, 16], and cover treatment [17–19]. However, most of these technologies are costly, short-term solutions, and difficult to apply.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pyrite Passivation by Triethylenetetramine: An Electrochemical Study

Liu

Dang

et al. 2013

Journal of Analytical Methods in Chemistry

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The potential of triethylenetetramine (TETA) to inhibit the oxidation of pyrite in H2SO4 solution had been investigated by using the open-circuit potential (OCP), cyclic voltammetry (CV), potentiodynamic polarization, and electrochemical impedance (EIS), respectively. Experimental results indicate that TETA is an efficient coating agent in preventing the oxidation of pyrite and that the inhibition efficiency is more pronounced with the increase of TETA. The data from potentiodynamic polarization show that the inhibition efficiency (η%) increases from 42.08% to 80.98% with the concentration of TETA increasing from 1% to 5%. These results are consistent with the measurement of EIS (43.09% to 82.55%). The information obtained from potentiodynamic polarization also displays that the TETA is a kind of mixed type inhibitor.

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Effectiveness of various cover scenarios on the rate of sulfide oxidation of mine tailings

Cited by 55 publications

References 18 publications

Chemical characteristics and acid drainage assessment of mine tailings from Akara Gold mine in Thailand

Chemical characteristics and acid drainage assessment of mine tailings from Akara Gold mine in Thailand

Minerals and Mine Drainage

Pyrite Passivation by Triethylenetetramine: An Electrochemical Study

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