Mineralogical, geochemical, and microbial investigation of a sulfide-rich tailings deposit characterized by neutral drainage

Lindsay, Matthew B.J.; Condon, Peter D.; Jambor, John L.; Lear, Kerry G.; Blowes, David W.; Ptacek, Carol J.

doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2009.09.012

Cited by 101 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The impoundments in Pezinok are therefore specific because they hold neutral mine drainage (NMD). The occurrence of NMD is less common than acid-mine drainage (AMD) but not unique to Pezinok (Heikkinen et al 2009;Lindsay et al 2009). …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elemental and mineral inventory of tailing impoundments near Pezinok, Slovakia and possible courses of action for their remediation

Majzlan¹,

Brecht²,

Lalinská³

et al. 2010

Mineralogia

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Abstract. An effective remediation strategy for a polluted site should take the absolute amount of the pollutant(s) into account. Here, we present an elemental budget for As, Sb and Fe in two tailing impoundments of the former Sb-Au deposit near Pezinok, Slovakia. The two impoundments contain 5,74010 3 kg As, 6,36010 3 kg Sb and 50,10510 3 kg Fe. An estimated total Au content in the impoundments is 132 kg. The most abundant minerals in the tailings are quartz, illite, and chlorite. The content of carbonates in the tailings is 3.5-10.5 wt% calcite equivalent and we estimate that the carbonates are sufficiently abundant to buffer the pH at circumneutral values, up to the point when all pyrite decomposes. The possible courses of action are i) do nothing, ii) build an active barrier to capture the released As and Sb, iii) isolate the impoundments from rain and ground water and iv) use the impoundments as a source of Sb and redeposit the waste in a safer form. The simplest approach is to do nothing, which seems to be the most likely course of events, given the current economic, political and societal state of the Slovak Republic. Although this action costs nothing in the short term, it may cause significant damage to the environment, especially to the alluvial sediments and associated water resources in the long term.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elemental and mineral inventory of tailing impoundments near Pezinok, Slovakia and possible courses of action for their remediation

Majzlan¹,

Brecht²,

Lalinská³

et al. 2010

Mineralogia

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“…While this genus has not been widely associated with waste rock, tailings, or other mining environments, S. plumbophila (formerly "Thiobacillus plumbophilus") was isolated from a uranium mine (47)(48)(49), and one of the few mining environments where Sulfuriferula-like clones have been previously reported was also moderately acidic pyrrhotite-bearing mine waste (27). Sulfur-oxidizing autotrophs are frequently observed in circumneutral mine wastes (24)(25)(26), but different populations may be important in the Duluth Complex because of its mineral assemblage and moderately acidic weathering conditions. Sulfuriferula's abundance in the Duluth Complex humidity cell and -HC9 DCW-HC17 DCW-HC13 DCW-HC19 DCW-HC15 GSHC1 GSHC4 GSHC6 GSHC8 GSHC10 field experiments here suggest that it may be more widely important in sulfidic mine waste than previously recognized.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Compared with extremely acidic environments, much less is known about the microbial ecology of moderately acidic sulfide-bearing mine waste. Microbial assemblages associated with circumneutral to moderately acidic waste rock and mine tailings are often characterized by the presence of sulfur-oxidizing microorganisms such as Thiobacillus denitrificans and Thiobacillus thioparus (23)(24)(25)(26) but also often contain uncultivated taxa (23,27,28). The extent to which many of these populations impact the rate and products of sulfide mineral oxidation under moderately acidic to circumneutral conditions is not well studied.…”

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confidence: 99%

Novel Microbial Assemblages Dominate Weathered Sulfide-Bearing Rock from Copper-Nickel Deposits in the Duluth Complex, Minnesota, USA

Jones

Lapakko

Wenz

et al. 2017

Appl Environ Microbiol

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The Duluth Complex in northeastern Minnesota hosts economically significant deposits of copper, nickel, and platinum group elements (PGEs). The primary sulfide mineralogy of these deposits includes the minerals pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, pentlandite, and cubanite, and weathering experiments show that most sulfidebearing rock from the Duluth Complex generates moderately acidic leachate (pH 4 to 6). Microorganisms are important catalysts for metal sulfide oxidation and could influence the quality of water from mines in the Duluth Complex. Nevertheless, compared with that of extremely acidic environments, much less is known about the microbial ecology of moderately acidic sulfide-bearing mine waste, and so existing information may have little relevance to those microorganisms catalyzing oxidation reactions in the Duluth Complex. Here, we characterized the microbial communities in decade-long weathering experiments (kinetic tests) conducted on crushed rock and tailings from the Duluth Complex. Analyses of 16S rRNA genes and transcripts showed that differences among microbial communities correspond to pH, rock type, and experimental treatment. Moreover, microbial communities from the weathered Duluth Complex rock were dominated by taxa that are not typically associated with acidic mine waste. The most abundant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were from the genera Meiothermus and Sulfuriferula, as well as from diverse clades of uncultivated Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, and Betaproteobacteria. Specific taxa, including putative sulfur-oxidizing Sulfuriferula spp., appeared to be primarily associated with Duluth Complex rock, but not pyrite-bearing rocks subjected to the same experimental treatment. We discuss the implications of these results for the microbial ecology of moderately acidic mine waste with low sulfide content, as well as for kinetic testing of mine waste.IMPORTANCE Economic sulfide mineral deposits in the Duluth Complex may represent the largest undeveloped source of copper and nickel on Earth. Microorganisms are important catalysts for sulfide mineral oxidation, and research on extreme acidophiles has improved our ability to manage and remediate mine wastes. We found that the microbial assemblages associated with weathered rock from the Duluth Complex are dominated by organisms not widely associated with mine waste or mining-impacted environments, and we describe geochemical and experimental influences on community composition. This report will be a useful foundation for understanding the microbial biogeochemistry of moderately acidic mine waste from these and similar deposits.

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“…Roasted pyrite in tailings in the Aljustrel mining area, Portugal, has been shown to be enriched in Mo (31.2 mg/kg [61]), while coarse pyrite was more enriched in Fe, Cu, Pb and other metals (3.4 to 15.8 mg/kg of Mo). The Mo (49.5-76.3 mg/kg) detected in mine tailings at the Greens Creek Mine, Alaska, has also been attributed to its occurrence in pyrite [39]. Molybdenum is also suggested to occur in other mine waste sulfides (e.g., chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite and sphalerite [62,63]), but concentration data are available only for galena (7 ppm [64]) and tetrahedrite (0.8 wt % [65]).…”

Section: Mineralogy Of Mo In Mine Wastesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Under such conditions, Mo occurs as a negatively charged species (e.g., molybdate [68]), whereas Fe(III) (oxy)hydroxide surfaces exhibit net positive charge [69]. As a result, the formation of inner sphere complexes with these surfaces has been proposed to be an important control on Mo mobility within tailings deposits [10,39], and an effective removal technique for remediating Mo-contaminated mine waters [31,33,70,71]. [33] In many mine waste studies the mineralogy of Mo is inferred from sequential extraction data rather than determined directly.…”

Section: Mineralogy Of Mo In Mine Wastesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Microbiology of Molybdenum in Mining-Affected Environments

Frascoli

Hudson‐Edwards

2018

Minerals

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Abstract:Molybdenum is an essential element for life, with growing production due to a constantly expanding variety of industrial applications. The potentially harmful effects of Mo on the environment, and on human and ecosystem health, require knowledge of Mo behavior in mining-affected environments. Mo is usually present in trace amounts in ore deposits, but mining exploitation can lead to wastes with very high Mo concentrations (up to 4000 mg/kg Mo for tailings), as well as soil, sediments and water contamination in surrounding areas. In mine wastes, molybdenum is liberated from sulfide mineral oxidation and can be sorbed onto secondary Fe(III)-minerals surfaces (jarosite, schwertmannite, ferrihydrite) at moderately acidic waters, or taken up in secondary minerals such as powellite and wulfenite at neutral to alkaline pH. To date, no Mo-metabolising bacteria have been isolated from mine wastes. However, laboratory and in-situ experiments in other types of contaminated land have suggested that several Mo-reducing and -oxidising bacteria may be involved in the cycling of Mo in and from mine wastes, with good potential for bioremediation. Overall, a general lack of data is highlighted, emphasizing the need for further research on the contamination, geochemistry, bio-availability and microbial cycling of Mo in mining-affected environments to improve environmental management and remediation actions.

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Mineralogical, geochemical, and microbial investigation of a sulfide-rich tailings deposit characterized by neutral drainage

Cited by 101 publications

References 27 publications

Elemental and mineral inventory of tailing impoundments near Pezinok, Slovakia and possible courses of action for their remediation

Elemental and mineral inventory of tailing impoundments near Pezinok, Slovakia and possible courses of action for their remediation

Novel Microbial Assemblages Dominate Weathered Sulfide-Bearing Rock from Copper-Nickel Deposits in the Duluth Complex, Minnesota, USA

Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Microbiology of Molybdenum in Mining-Affected Environments

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