Large amounts of leaching residue are released into tailings dams from mines, and their acid content can cause environmental pollution. The aim of this study was to research the feasibility and value of a leaching residue backfill recycling method. The combination of property detection, laboratory tests (the neutralization method, strength test and diffusivity test) and numerical simulation met...

During its active operation from 1973 to 1990 the Black Angel Mine in West Greenland disposed its tailings in seawater slurry to a fjord. During the disposal between 10 and 30 tons of lead and between 30 and 55 tons of zinc dissolved annually in the receiving sea water. This resulted in a significant pollution of the surrounding marine environment. Other pollution sources, particularly waste ro...

Mercury contamination associated with small-scale gold mining and processing represents a major environmental and human health concern in Eastern and Southern Africa. Approximately 200,000-300,000 persons are involved in small-scale gold mining activities in Tanzania and > 200,000 persons in Zimbabwe. Mercury (Hg) is used mainly for the processing of primary gold quartz veins and supergene gold...

Three plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB; Bacillus pumilus ES4, B. pumilus RIZO1, and Azospirillum brasilense Cd) were tested for their ability to enhance plant growth and development of the native Sonoran Desert shrub quailbush (Atriplex lentiformis) and for their effect on the native bacterial community in moderately acidic, high-metal content (AHMT) and in neutral, low metal content natur...

Natural uranium (U) occurs as a mixture of three radioactive isotopes: U, U, and U. Only U is fissionable and makes up about 0.7% of natural U, while U is overwhelmingly the most abundant at greater than 99% of the total mass of U. Prior to the 1940s, U was predominantly used as a coloring agent, and U-bearing ores were mined mainly for their radium (Ra) and/or vanadium (V) content; the bulk of...

A range of soil amendments including diammonium phosphate fertilizer (DAP), municipal biosolids (BS), biosolids compost, and Al- and Fe-based water treatment residuals were tested on Pb-, Zn-, and Cd-contaminated yard soils and tailings at the Tar Creek NPL site in Oklahoma to determine if amendments could restore a vegetative cover and reduce metal availability in situ. For the yard soils, all...

The mineralogy and evolution of Al and Mg in U mill tailings are poorly understood. Elemental analyses (ICP-MS) of both solid and aqueous phases show that precipitation of large masses of secondary Al and Mg mineral phases occurs throughout the raffinate neutralization process (pH 1-11) at the Key Lake U mill, Saskatchewan, Canada. Data from a suite of analytical methods (ICP-MS, EMPA, laborato...

There are numerous examples of past and present mine disposal into freshwater and marine coastal bays and riverine environments. Due to its high spatial resolution and extended water penetration, coastal light detection and ranging (LiDAR), coupled with multispectral scanning (MSS), has great promise for resolving disturbed shoreline features in low turbidity environments. Migrating mine tailin...

Five separate test sites were established in 1994 to evaluate the use of municipal sewage sludge as a soil amendment and conditioner (hereafter referred to as “biosolids”) on the Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation’s tailings impoundment near Magna, Utah. Each site was divided into 16 test plots to evaluate four replications of the four rates of biosolids addition and incorporation into the taili...