Characteristics of Wastewater Streams Within the Bor Copper Mine and Their Influence on Pollution of the Timok River, Serbia

Serbula, Snezana M.; Stanković, Vesna; Živković, Dragić; Kamberović, Željko; Gorgievski, Milan; Kalinovic, Tanja S.

doi:10.1007/s10230-016-0392-6

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…-Within RTB Bor there are several acidic effluents flowing out from the tank-house, containing a few thousand tons of waste H 2 SO 4 and a couple of hundred tons of copper, now going to the wastewater neutralization plant, which could be used in the leaching process [27,29].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As seen, all the by-products could be incurporated in the flotation tailings reprocessing, contributing significantly to the process itself, but also to a better use of the effluents which would reduce the existing costs of their current purification prior to discharging into the Bor and Krivelj River -tributaries of the Timok River. That will be a great step in improving their water quality, which now is at a very low level and represents a permanent threat, firstly to the Timok as a boundary river between Serbia and Bulgaria and consequently to a lower course of the Danube, as an international river [28][29][30].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reprocessing of the old flotation tailings deposited on the RTB Bor tailings pond - a case study

Stanković¹,

Milošević

Milićević

et al. 2018

CI&CEQ

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Article Highlights • Mass of the flotation tailings and valuable metal potential was estimated • Purification of the flotation tailings for possible using in construction materials industry • Copper oxide minerals leaching followed by the re-flotation of residual sulphide • Inlet concentration of copper, iron and sulphur was reduced 3 to 5 times • Proposed a new flotation tailings purification process Abstract Flotation waste, which was produced through seventy years of copper ore processing in RTB Bor, Serbia, is deposited in a flotation tailings pond. In total, almost 26.4 Mt could be considered as available for eventual reprocessing and reuse. Chemical analysis has shown that an average concentration of targeted metals in the tailings is: 0.183% Cu, 0.35 g/t Au and 2.17 g/t Ag. The tailings contain 60 to 70% of SiO 2 , 10 to 17% of Al 2 O 3 and pyrite 5 to 8%. Flotation tailings reprocessing consisted of acid leaching followed by re-flotation of the leach residue. Leaching of the tailings resulted in leach liquors containing Cu 2+ ions from 50 to 580 ppm. The average copper removal degree in the leaching stage was 70%. After re-flotation, the total copper removal degree reached 83 to 85%. Sulphur removal degree reached 77%. Sulphur concentration in the treated tailings was reduced almost 5 times compared to the inlet concentration. An equivalent amount of iron was also reduced through the flotation process. Concentration of total copper was reduced 3 times.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reprocessing of the old flotation tailings deposited on the RTB Bor tailings pond - a case study

Stanković¹,

Milošević

Milićević

et al. 2018

CI&CEQ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Copper is commonly detected in waters and is one of the priority pollutants identified by the US EPA [ 24 , 29 ]. Pollution incidents caused by copper mining or electroplating wastewater often occur [ 30 , 31 ]. Once nano-Al 2 O 3 is released into an aquatic environment, it may inevitably co-exist with copper.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Nano-Al2O3 on the Toxicity and Oxidative Stress of Copper towards Scenedesmus obliquus

Zhou

Fan

2016

IJERPH

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Nano-Al2O3 has been widely used in various industries; unfortunately, it can be released into the aquatic environment. Although nano-Al2O3 is believed to be of low toxicity, it can interact with other pollutants in water, such as heavy metals. However, the interactions between nano-Al2O3 and heavy metals as well as the effect of nano-Al2O3 on the toxicity of the metals have been rarely investigated. The current study investigated copper toxicity in the presence of nano-Al2O3 towards Scenedesmus obliquus. Superoxide dismutase activity and concentration of glutathione and malondialdehyde in cells were determined in order to quantify oxidative stress in this study. Results showed that the presence of nano-Al2O3 reduced the toxicity of Cu towards S. obliquus. The existence of nano-Al2O3 decreased the growth inhibition of S. obliquus. The accumulation of copper and the level of oxidative stress in algae were reduced in the presence of nano-Al2O3. Furthermore, lower copper accumulation was the main factor that mitigated copper toxicity with the addition of nano-Al2O3. The decreased copper uptake could be attributed to the adsorption of copper onto nanoparticles and the subsequent decrease of available copper in water.

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“…Several studies have been conducted on the quality of polluted river water (Milijasevic et al ., 2011; Ishiyama et al ., 2012; Atanackovic et al ., 2013; Gardic et al ., 2015; Serbula et al ., 2016; Dordievski et al ., 2018; Milijasevic Joksimovic et al ., 2018). Ishiyama et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Eastern Serbia, including both mining areas, shares borders with Romania and Bulgaria. Modern and organized mining started in Bor as underground mining in 1903 after the discovery of high-grade copper ore deposits (Serbula et al, 2010(Serbula et al, , 2016. In 1961, operations started in the Majdanpek mine when porphyry-style mineralization was discovered in the Majdanpek mining area, which is located 40 km northwest of the Bor mining area (Armstong et al, 2005;Serbula et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation and comparison of the environmental impacts of acid mine drainage‐bearing river water in the Bor and Majdanpek porphyry copper mining areas in Eastern Serbia

et al. 2021

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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.

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Characteristics of Wastewater Streams Within the Bor Copper Mine and Their Influence on Pollution of the Timok River, Serbia

Cited by 13 publications

References 4 publications

Reprocessing of the old flotation tailings deposited on the RTB Bor tailings pond - a case study

Reprocessing of the old flotation tailings deposited on the RTB Bor tailings pond - a case study

Effect of Nano-Al2O3 on the Toxicity and Oxidative Stress of Copper towards Scenedesmus obliquus

Estimation and comparison of the environmental impacts of acid mine drainage‐bearing river water in the Bor and Majdanpek porphyry copper mining areas in Eastern Serbia

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