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

Abstract

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.

Environmental risk assessment of the contamination of river water and sediments from the Bor mining area, East Serbia―Secondary Cu enrichment at the reservoir site

“…Fluxes for other metals are presented in Figure S2. Just as mentioned in Section 1, there are essentially two major river water pollution sources in the Bor mining area; (1) the metallurgical/smelter wastewaters (Figure 2a), located upstream of the Bor River and (2) Krivelj mine overburden leakages (Figure 2b), located upstream of the Krivelj River (Adamović et al, 2021; Đorđievski et al, 2018; Filimon et al, 2016; Gardić et al, 2015, 2017; Ishiyama et al, 2012; Korac & Kamberović, 2007).…”

“…The extensive mining of copper from sulfide ores in the Bor mining area, Eastern Serbia has generated large volumes of mine waste materials, especially overburden and flotation tailings (Bogdanović et al, 2011; Markovic et al, 2014). These waste materials have led to the generation of acid mine drainage (AMD) (Gardić et al, 2015; Korac & Kamberović, 2007) which has contaminated the waters of the Timok river system (Adamović et al, 2021; Đorđievski et al, 2018). Furthermore, wastewaters originating from the Bor metallurgical/smelting facilities are reported to be the main source of contamination for the Bor River (Bugarin et al, 2013; Đorđievski et al, 2018; Ishiyama et al, 2012; Stevanović et al, 2013).…”

“…In the Bor mining area, previous studies have focused primarily on the microbial communities and distribution of heavy metals in sediments (Filimon et al, 2013, 2016) as well as the mineralogical and geochemical characterization of the riverbed sediments in the Timok river system (Đorđievski et al, 2018). By using the river water chemistry results, Adamović et al (2021) compared the environmental impacts of the Bor and Majdanpek mining activities and concluded that, due to wastewaters from the Bor metallurgical/smelter facilities, the Bor mining area had larger environmental impact than the Majdanpek mining area. However, our work focuses on the pH variations of river waters in the Bor mining area during two sampling periods, within the same season, and its influence on the mobility of toxic elements.…”

Environmental Assessment Impact of Acid Mine Drainage from Kizel Coal Basin on the Kosva Bay of the Kama Reservoir (Perm Krai, Russia)

“…Nieto et al [22] and Adamovic et.al. [23] noted pollutant transport over significant distances from AMD [22,23]. The total amount of pollutants from mine outflow from the Kizel Coal Basin (for the catchment areas of the Yaiva, Kosva, and Chusovaya Rivers) is 21,455 tons per year of iron, 1128 tons per year of aluminum, and 217 tons per year of manganese [24].…”

Application of microbial fuel cell for simultaneous treatment of metallurgical and municipal wastewater - а laboratory study

“…2−4 About 910 t of copper per year is transported by Bor River and Timok River to the Danube River in dissolved and particulate form, which creates transboundary pollution, affecting the Danube River in Romania and Bulgaria. 5 Various treatment methods could be used for the purification of metallurgical and municipal wastewater from Bor, however, by applying MFC, it could be possible to treat both types of wastewaters simultaneously. 6−8 MFCs are hybrid bio-electrochemical reactors able to use concentrated organic waste streams, produce electricity, and recover resources from wastewater through biocatalytic and electrochemical reactions.…”