Mine Waste Hydrogeochemistry

Mine Waste Hydrogeochemistry covers all the fundamental properties and principles associated with metal mining and coal mining wastes, their environmental consequences, and their remediation. It provides a solid scientific basis for planning and managing solid and liquid wastes from mining activities which will inform students, researchers, engineers, and mine managers. The degradation of air quality, water quality, and soil and sediment quality from mining activities involves complex processes involving physics, chemistry, microbiology, fluid dynamics, and mineralogy and mineral processing. This subject matter is complex and requires technical skill in laboratory work, field work, and theoretical calculations. This book provides the most up-to-date synthesis of the numerous papers and studies on this subject available in one book for students, instructors, consultants, and researchers. Mine Waste Hydrogeochemistry is intended to fill that void. Covers the basic scientific principles necessary to understand mine waste contamination Includes real-world examples of remediation activities and their successes and failures Synthesizes information gained from hundreds of studies including tailings and waste piles worldwide, stream and river studies affected by mine drainage, and mineralogical characterization combined with water compositions

Tailings and Mine Waste08 contains papers from the twelfth annual Tailings and Mine Waste Conference, held by Colorado State University of Fort Collins, Colorado. The purpose of this series of conferences is to provide a forum for discussion and establishment of dialogue among all people in the mining industry and environmental community regardin

Today's best practice in environmental mine-waste management requires a thorough understanding of the wastes produced. The knowledge of mine wastes represents a new interdisciplinary science and this book provides an introductory, descriptive and analytic overview of the wastes produced in the mineral industry. It describes the characterization, prediction, monitoring, disposal and treatment as well as environmental impacts. Intended for undergraduate courses, it systematically builds the reader’s understanding and knowledge of the wastes produced, their physical and chemical characteristics, and how to deal responsibly with them on a short and long-term basis. The text employs 22 case studies spanning the world’s mineral industry that elucidate best practice and specific challenges in mine-waste management and site rehabilitation.

The Treatise on Geochemistry is the first work providing a comprehensive, integrated summary of the present state of geochemistry. It deals with all the major subjects in the field, ranging from the chemistry of the solar system to environmental geochemistry. The Treatise on Geochemistry has drawn on the expertise of outstanding scientists throughout the world, creating the reference work in geochemistry for the next decade. Each volume consists of fifteen to twenty-five chapters written by recognized authorities in their fields, and chosen by the Volume Editors in consultation with the Executive Editors. Particular emphasis has been placed on integrating the subject matter of the individual chapters and volumes. Elsevier also offers the Treatise on Geochemistry in electronic format via the online platform ScienceDirect, the most comprehensive database of academic research on the Internet today, enhanced by a suite of sophisticated linking, searching and retrieval tools.

Hard rock mines have significant effects on the territories where they operate, through both infrastructure construction as well as resource use. Due to their extractive activities, these mines store large quantities of wastes at the surface, which can be both physically and chemically unstable. Reclamation aims to return a mine site to a satisfactory state, meaning that the site should not threaten human health or security, should not generate in the long term any contaminant that could significantly affect the surrounding environment, and should be aesthetically acceptable to communities. This book focuses on the reclamation of waste storage areas, which constitute the main source of pollution during and after mine operations, and especially issues with acid mine drainage and neutral contaminated drainage. Features: Provides fundamental information and describes practical methods to reclaim mine-waste facilities Compares the different methods and illustrates their application at sites through case studies Identifies new reclamation issues and proposes solutions to address them Presents existing and new technologies to reclaim mine waste disposal areas from hard rock mines in different climatic conditions Integrates reclamation into mine operations and long term performance of techniques used through an interdisciplinary approach With mine site reclamation a young and still emerging science, the training needs for professionals and students working in this field are huge. This book is written from an engineering point of view and in it the authors identify new reclamation issues and propose well-tested as well as innovative approaches to addressing them. Students in graduate programs focused on mines and the environment as well as professionals already working in departments related to mine site reclamation will find this book to be a valuable and essential resource.

This book is not designed to be an exhaustive work on mine wastes. It aims to serve undergraduate students who wish to gain an overview and an understanding of wastes produced in the mineral industry. An introductory textbook addressing the science of such wastes is not available to students despite the importance of the mineral industry as a resource, wealth and job provider. Also, the growing imp- tance of the topics mine wastes, mine site pollution and mine site rehabilitation in universities, research organizations and industry requires a textbook suitable for undergraduate students. Until recently, undergraduate earth science courses tended to follow rather classical lines, focused on the teaching of palaeontology, cryst- lography, mineralogy, petrology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, structural geology, and ore deposit geology. However, today and in the future, earth science teachers and students also need to be familiar with other subject areas. In particular, earth science curriculums need to address land and water degradation as well as rehabili- tion issues. These topics are becoming more important to society, and an increasing number of earth science students are pursuing career paths in this sector. Mine site rehabilitation and mine waste science are examples of newly emerging disciplines. This book has arisen out of teaching mine waste science to undergraduate and graduate science students and the frustration at having no appropriate text which documents the scienti?c fundamentals of such wastes.

Nowhere is the conflict between economic progress and environmental quality more apparent than in the mineral extraction industries. The latter half of the 20th century saw major advances in the reclamation technologies. However, mine water pollution problems have not been addressed. In many cases, polluted mine water long outlives the life of the mining operation. As the true cost of long-term water treatment responsibilities has become apparent, interest has grown in the technologies that would decrease the production of contaminated water and make its treatment less costly. This is the first book to address the mine water issue head-on. The authors explain the complexities of mine water pollution by reviewing the hydrogeological context of its formation, and provide an up-to-date presentation of prevention and treatment technologies. The book will be a valuable reference for all professionals who encounter polluted mine water on a regular or occasional basis.

This book addresses the processes related to mine abandonment from a hydrogeological perspective and provides a comprehensive presentation of water management and innovative tracer techniques for flooded mines. After an introduction to the relevant hydrogeochemical processes the book gives detailed information about mine closure procedures. The book also includes case studies and hints, and some new methodologies for conducting tracer tests in flooded mines.

The single most important factor for the successful application of a geochemical model is the knowledge and experience of the individual(s) conducting the modeling. Geochemical Modeling for Mine Site Characterization and Remediation is the fourth of six volumes in the Management Technologies for Metal Mining Influenced Water series about technologies for management of metal mine and metallurgical process drainage. This handbook describes the important components of hydrogeochemical modeling for mine environments, primarily those mines where sulfide minerals are present—metal mines and coal mines. It provides general guidelines on the strengths and limitations of geochemical modeling and an overview of its application to the hydrogeochemistry of both unmined mineralized sites and those contaminated from mineral extraction and mineral processing. The handbook includes an overview of the models behind the codes, explains vital geochemical computations, describes several modeling processes, provides a compilation of codes, and gives examples of their application, including both successes and failures. Hydrologic modeling is also included because mining contaminants most often migrate by surface water and groundwater transport, and contaminant concentrations are a function of water residence time as well as pathways. This is an indispensable resource for mine planners and engineers, environmental managers, land managers, consultants, researchers, government regulators, nongovernmental organizations, students, stakeholders, and anyone with an interest in mining influenced water. The other handbooks in the series are Basics of Metal Mining Influenced Water; Mitigation of Metal Mining Influenced Water; Mine Pit Lakes: Characteristics, Predictive Modeling, and Sustainability; Techniques for Predicting Metal Mining Influenced Water; and Sampling and Monitoring for the Mine Life Cycle.