Composition of Interstitial Gases in Wood Chips Deposited on Reactive Mine Tailings

Tassé, Normand; Germain, Michel; Bergeron, Mario

doi:10.1021/bk-1994-0550.ch038

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Underground, the simplest solution is flooding of the workings. With tailings material a number of approaches have been proposed including dry covers composed of finegrained materials which maintain high water and low oxygen diffusion (Nicholson et al 1989), synthetic oxygen diffusivity materials (Malhotra 1991), and oxygen consuming materials (Tasse et al 1994).…”

Section: Source Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical containment of mine waste

Bowell¹,

Williams²,

Connelly³

et al. 1999

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The safe disposal of material considered hazardous is a natural part of good housekeeping for any industrial development. This is particularly so for the mining industry which has historically not always been so well managed in this aspect and as such has a high political profile today. Typical problems associated with mineral processing and mine waste are:9 poor water quality, through the release of sulphate, acidic waters, metals, metalloids and other undesirable substances 9 poor air quality, through the release of mineral dust and gases such as SO2, As203, Hg vapour and CO2 amongst others 9 contamination of land by the above with elevated levels of metals, sulphate and metalloids.

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Section: Source Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical containment of mine waste

Bowell¹,

Williams²,

Connelly³

et al. 1999

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“…In 1991, the MRNQ undertook an evaluation of the effectiveness of the cover at the East Sullivan tailings pond, within a plot some tens of meters from the southern limit of the ligneous waste (Tasse et al 1993). The sampling in the ligneous waste was car- ,.…”

Section: On-site Plot Instrumentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling Acid Mine Drainage Using an Organic Cover: The Case of the East Sullivan Mine, Abitibi Quebec

Tremblay¹

1994

ASMR

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The East Sullivan site holds 15 million tonnes of tailings which generate significant acid mine drainage. The tailings pond covers a surface area of 150 hectares, and spillage extends over an additional 70 ha. The interstitial water at the centre of the pond is characterized as follows : ph= 2.3; Cu= 261 ppm; Zn= 23 ppm; S0 4 = 13 500 ppm; and Fe= 3200 ppm. In order to stop acid drainage from being generated, plans have been made to cover the entire tailings pond with an organic blanket comprised of two metres of softwood and hardwood bark. This type of covering has proven effective in preventing oxygen from reaching the tailings. In fact, oxygen concentrations drop from 16.1 % near the surface to less than 1.5 % some 70 cm below it, while the CO 2 concentrations at the same depth rise from 8.2 % to 50.8 %. A grass cover is planted on top of the bark to reduce water seepage. Sludge from a municipal waters treatment plant is incorporated into the first 30 centimetres of the organic material as a conditioner and then seeded. A containment dike will be built around the entire site (6 km) to divert fresh water and carry drainage from the pond to a water treatment system. Studies have shown that some organic contamination results from bark decomposition. Phenol and tannin concentrations of 5.7 ppm and 95 ppm respectively have been measured to date. Tests are under way to determine the best passive treatment system for controlling both organic and mineral contamination caused by the tailings. A multimedia filter was installed a year ago and work will begin this year on experimental wetlands. The ultimate objective of the East-Sullivan mine site reclamation plan is to abandon the site as quickly as possible in an environnemtally benign manner. So far, 30 % of the mine site is under organic cover and the remaining 70 % should be covered within five years at most. The containment dike will be completed within the next three years, and the water treatment system should be operational the following year.Additional

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“…Therefore, following deposition, it may be desirable to control atmospheric O 2 entry into the tailings through the addition of a barrier or cover over the mine wastes. Physical barriers that have been applied or proposed include dry covers composed of finegrained materials to maintain high water contents (Rasmuson and Collin, 1988;Nicholson et al, 1989;Yanful et al, 1994;Ouangrawa et al, 2009;Dobchuk et al, 2013;Lu et al, 2013); covers composed of geosynthetic materials (Sodermark and Lundgren, 1988;Lewis and Gallinger, 1999;Rowe and Hosney, 2013); and covers containing O 2 -consuming materials (Reardon and Moddle, 1985;Broman et al, 1991;Tassé et al, 1994). In addition to limiting O 2 diffusion, covers also contain the tailings and protect them from wind and water erosion (Kossoff et al, 2014 Water covers offer an alternative approach to dry covers for managing sulfide-mineral oxidation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%