Multiphase transfer processes in waste rock piles producing acid mine drainage

Lefebvre, René; Hockley, Daryl; Smolensky, Jason; Gélinas, Pierre

doi:10.1016/s0169-7722(01)00156-5

Cited by 159 publications

(125 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…4). Due to their large particle size, coarse tailings facilitate the access of oxygen and increase oxidation of sulfides (e.g., Lefebvre et al 2001). In contrast, the alteration in the tailings pond does not extend more than 15 cm in depth from the surface.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acid Mine Drainage at the Abandoned Kettara Mine (Morocco): 1. Environmental Characterization

2008

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The Kettara site (Morocco) is an abandoned pyrrhotite ore mine in a semi-arid environment. The site contains more than 3 million tons of mine waste that have been deposited on the surface without concern for environmental issues. Tailings were stockpiled in a dyke and pond and in piles, over an area of about 16 ha, and have generated acid mine drainage (AMD) for more than 24 years. The mine waste and secondary precipitates from this mine were characterized using geochemical and mineralogical techniques. The Kettara wastes contain 1.6-14.5 wt% sulfur, mainly sulfide minerals (e.g., pyrrhotite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite). The main gangue minerals were goethite, quartz, chlorite-serpentine, talc, muscovite, and albite. Carbonates occur at very low quantities (less than 1 wt%). The most abundant heavy metals were Cu, Zn, Cr, Pb, Co, As, Cd, and Ni. Acid-base accounting static test results showed that all the samples have low values of acid-neutralizing potential (NP) (0-9 kg CaCO3/t). The mine waste has high acid-producing potential (AP) (51-453 kg CaCO3/t). Abundant secondary mineralogy is present, consisting mainly of halotrichite, goethite, jarosite-hydroanion, hydroniumjarosite, starkeyite, gypsum, alunite, copiapite, butterite, and coquimbite. Hardpans, which can prevent water infiltration to fresh tailings beneath and thereby lessen the rate of sulfide reactivity, were observed during sampling of the fine tailings. Mineralogical analysis indicated that the cementitious phase of the hardpan is mainly goethite. The alteration observed in the tailings pond does not extend more than 5-15 cm.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acid Mine Drainage at the Abandoned Kettara Mine (Morocco): 1. Environmental Characterization

2008

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“…The simulation of metal release also required the consideration of vadose zone flow and transport processes, including gas transport, which was the subject of a number of follow-up studies [1,15,19,22,34,35]. More recently, reactive transport modeling has also been applied to investigate the release and attenuation of metals in waste rock piles [13,17,22]. Models have been used to investigate ARD generation and fate at both the laboratory [e.g., 8] and the field scale [13,22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, reactive transport modeling has also been applied to investigate the release and attenuation of metals in waste rock piles [13,17,22]. Models have been used to investigate ARD generation and fate at both the laboratory [e.g., 8] and the field scale [13,22]. Although the components of these models have been tested and verified, a direct model intercomparison for a problem involving the generation and attenuation of ARD has not been published to date.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benchmark problems for reactive transport modeling of the generation and attenuation of acid rock drainage

et al. 2015

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Acid rock drainage (ARD) is a problem of international relevance with substantial environmental and economic implications. Reactive transport modeling has proven a powerful tool for the process-based assessment of metal release and attenuation at ARD sites. Although a variety of models has been used to investigate ARD, a systematic model intercomparison has not been conducted to date. This contribution presents such a model intercomparison involving three synthetic benchmark problems designed to evaluate model results for the most relevant processes at ARD sites. The first benchmark (ARD-B1) focuses on the oxidation of sulfide minerals in an unsaturated tailing impoundment, affected by the ingress of atmospheric oxygen. ARD-B2 extends the first problem to include pH buffering by primary mineral dissolution and secondary mineral precipitation. The third problem (ARD-B3) in addition considers the kinetic and pH-dependent dissolution of silicate minerals under low pH conditions. The set of benchmarks was solved by four reactive transport codes, namely CrunchFlow, Flotran, HP1, and MIN3P. The results comparison focused on spatial profiles of dissolved concentrations, pH and pE, pore gas composition, and mineral assemblages. In addition, results of transient profiles for selected elements and cumulative mass loadings were considered in the intercomparison. Despite substantial differences in model formulations, very good agreement was obtained between the various codes. Residual deviations between the results are analyzed and discussed in terms of their implications for capturing system evolution and long-term mass loading predictions.

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“…Such contamination affects between 5000 and 10 000 miles of streams in the western United States (US Department of Agriculture, 1997). Although the most frequent examples of AMD contamination come from the USA and Canada (Grout et al, 2001;Lefevre et al, 2001), this problem also affects numerous states in Africa (Bullock et al, 1997;Geldenhuis et al, 1998), Europe (Banks et al, 1997;Hoth et al, 2001;Dinelli et al, 2002;Grande et al, 2003a,b;Sáinz et al, 2002), Australia (Lottermoser et al, 1999;Taylor et al, 2002) and, in general, wherever there is an intense mining activity in deposits with a presence of sulphides, as is the case not only of pyrite mining, but also of gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, uranium and coal. In active mines of the developed countries, mining operators treat their effluents before releasing them to the environment.…”

Section: Fluvial Contaminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of a systemic approach to the study of pollution of the Tinto and Odiel rivers (Spain)

Sáinz

Grande

Torre

2005

Environ Monit Assess

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The province of Huelva in the SW of Spain presents high environmental contrasts: together with the great abundance of natural spaces, it shows the impacts of historical natural resources exploitation processes. In the Ria of Huelva, the effluents of the chemical industries must be added to the contaminating inputs of the Tinto and Odiel rivers, coming from the acid drainage of the mines located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt. This forced the Environmental Agency (AMA) to elaborate in 1987 an Effluent Remediation Plan in order to negate unacceptable environmental impacts. The application of a "grey box" systemic analysis to the AMD pollution, undergone by the Tinto and Odiel rivers has allowed to set a conclusive explanation of the sampling results observed for a period of 11 years, thus making available an overall view of the polluting process and, above all, an explanation of its partial aspects.

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Multiphase transfer processes in waste rock piles producing acid mine drainage

Cited by 159 publications

References 20 publications

Acid Mine Drainage at the Abandoned Kettara Mine (Morocco): 1. Environmental Characterization

Acid Mine Drainage at the Abandoned Kettara Mine (Morocco): 1. Environmental Characterization

Benchmark problems for reactive transport modeling of the generation and attenuation of acid rock drainage

Application of a systemic approach to the study of pollution of the Tinto and Odiel rivers (Spain)

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