Tailings impoundments frequently represent the most significant environmental liability associated with mining projects, both during the operational and decommissioning phases of a project. A spate of recent and well-publicized incidents involving tailings impoundments has placed the mining industry in general, and those responsible for tailings impoundment design and safety in particular, unde...

A mine-tailings spill occurred on the island of Marinduque, Philippines, on 24 March 1996. Originating from the Marcopper Mine, tailings sludge flowed down the Boac River abruptly and during subsequent storm events. Most of the tailings material has since accumulated in the nearshore environment along the western coast of the island. Nineteen sediment cores were collected from this site and ana...

Mining operations are potential sources of airborne particulate metal and metalloid contaminants through both direct smelter emissions and wind erosion of mine tailings. The warmer, drier conditions predicted for the Southwestern US by climate models may make contaminated atmospheric dust and aerosols increasingly important, due to potential deleterious effects on human health and ecology. Dust...

Copper ore mining and processing release hazardous post-flotation wastes that are difficult for remediation. The studied tailings were extremely rich in Cu (1800 mg kg-1) and contaminated with Co and Mn, and contained very little available forms of P, Fe, and Zn. The plants growing in tailings were distinctly enriched in Cu, Cd, Co, Ni, and Pb, and the concentration of copper achived the critic...

The utilization of cemented tailings/paste backfill (CPB) by the mining industry is becoming increasingly important. However, it has been difficult to analyze the economic usage of CPB for fine unclassified tailings. Therefore, the physical and chemical properties of fine unclassified tailings, sampled from the Sijiaying Mine, were first analyzed in this study. After this, active excitation of ...

UNLABELLED BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to examine the potential environmental risk of tailings resulted after precious and base metal ores processing, stored in seven impoundments located in the Aries river basin, Romania. The tailings were characterized by mineralogical and elemental composition, contamination indices, acid rock drainage generation potential and water leachab...

To provide the basic information about the release of heavy metals from the pyrite tailings of Huangjiagou pyrite mine, the pyrite tailings were investigated through a series of batch experiments under different initial pH of extractant, temperature, liquid-solid (LS) ratio, and soaking time conditions. Moreover, calcium carbonate was added in the pyrite tailings to determine the reduction effe...

Secondary jarosite and water-soluble iron-sulfate minerals control the composition of acid mine waters formed by the oxidation of sulfide in tailings impoundments at the (Zn-Pb-Ag) Pan de Azúcar mine located in the Pozuelos Lagoon Basin (semi-arid climate) in Northwest (NW) Argentina. In the primary zone of the tailings (9.5 wt % pyrite-marcasite) precipitation of anglesite (PbSO4), wupatkite (...

Consolidation of clay particles in aqueous tailings suspensions is a major obstacle to effective management of oil sands tailings ponds in northern Alberta, Canada. We have observed that microorganisms indigenous to the tailings ponds accelerate consolidation of mature fine tailings (MFT) during active metabolism by using two biogeochemical pathways. In Pathway I, microbes alter porewater chemi...

Phytostabilization is a remediation technology that uses plants for in-situ stabilization of contamination in soils and mine tailings. The objective of this study was to identify native plant species with potential for phytostabilization of the abandoned mine tailings in Nacozari, Sonora in northern Mexico. A flora of 42 species in 16 families of angiosperms was recorded on the tailings site an...