200 years of mining activities at La Paz/San Luis Potosí/Mexico - Consequences for environment and geochemical exploration

The Ag---Pb---Zn---Cu---Au mining district of Santa María de La Paz has been extensively exploited for approximately 200 years. Consequences of these activities are several deposits of tailings with high As and heavy metal concentrations, which are completely unstable. The climate is semiarid and as the dumps have no protective cover, material from the dumps is dispersed by strong winds. It is also washed out during seasonally heavy rainfalls. By these processes approximately 100 km² of surrounding have been contaminated by dump material. The As and heavy metal content of the soils was determined as well as their level in crops (Zea Maize) from agricultural lands in the vicinity of the dumps. In the direction of prevailing winds concentrations up to 1000 ppm Zn, 400 ppm Pb, 16 ppm Cd, 550 ppm Cu and 300 As have been detected in top soils. Using fuzzy cluster analysis the different contamination sources could be identified. Grains of corn from contaminated sites showed no critical concentrations, but leaves which are also used tor fodder, have As-concentrations up to 20 ppm.     

柿竹园钨锡钼铋矿床合理的勘探方法及储量比例探讨

本文剖析了柿竹园钨锡钼铋矿床地勘阶段地质观察粗浅，勘探投入超前，探明储量积压、Ｂ＋Ｃ级储量比例偏大等不合理的勘查工作及其原因。在此基础上，探讨矿区合理的勘探程度，储量比例及由此带来的经济效益。     

Estimation of in situ viscoelastic parameters of weak floor strata by plate-loading tests

Summary This paper explores an approach to estimation of the viscoelastic parameters of weak floor strata using plate-loading tests. Mathematical equations are derived to describe deformation-time history for the standard Burgers model under three-dimensional stress-strain conditions, which are verified with a finite element model. A number of time-dependent in-mine plate-loading tests were conducted and the values of the viscoelastic parameters were estimated based on the derived equation. It is shown that large discrepancies between the parameter values estimated from the plate-loading tests and those acquired from the in-mine convergence data are the results of neglecting adjacent pillar interaction. Finite element modelling was conducted to investigate the effects of adjacent pillar interactions upon the pillar settlement. Based on the finite element analyses, a correction curve was developed to adjust the viscoelastic parameter values to take into account the interaction between adjacent pillars. With the correction, the parameter values estimated from the plate-loading tests compared favourably with those acquired from the in-mine convergence results.     

Feasibility and cost of creating an iron-phosphate coating on pyrrhotite to prevent oxidation

 Acid mine drainage (AMD) occurs when sulfide minerals are exposed to an oxidizing environment. Most of the methods for preventing AMD are either short-term or high cost solutions. Coating with iron phosphate is a new technology for the abatement of AMD. It involves treating the sulfide with a coating solution composed of H₂O₂, KH₂PO₄, and sodium acetate as a buffer agent. The H₂O₂ oxidizes the sulfide surface and produces Fe³⁺ so that iron phosphate precipitates as a coating on the sulfide surface. Experiments performed under laboratory conditions prove that an iron phosphate coating can be established on pyrrhotite surfaces with optimal concentrations of the coating solution in the range of: 0.2M/0.01M H₂O₂, 0.2M KH₂PO₄, and 0.2M sodium acetate NaAc, depending on the experimental scale. Iron phosphate coating may be a long-term solution to the problem of AMD. The method would be easy to implement; the reagent cost, however, is not low enough, although it is lower than the conventional treatment with lime. Received: 30 March 1995 · Accepted: 6 September 1995     

豆芽棚滑坡治理工程及效果

对处于临滑状态的豆芽棚滑坡进行综合治理，实施排水、加固、支档和减载等工程。经多种监测结果证明，工程治理效果良好。     

Water quality impacts from mining in the Black Hills,South Dakota,USA

The focus of this research was to determine if abandoned mines constitute a major environmental hazard in the Black Hills. Many abandoned gold mines in the Black Hills contribute acid and heavy metals to streams. In some areas of sulfide mineralization local impacts are severe, but in most areas the impacts are small because most ore deposits consist of small quartz veins with few sulfides. Pegmatite mines appear to have negligible effects on water due to the insoluble nature of pegmatite minerals. Uranium mines in the southern Black Hills contribute some radioactivity to surface water, but the impact is limited because of the dry climate and lack of runoff in that area.     

Field assessment of acid mine drainage contamination in surface and ground water

Both sulfate and conductivity are useful indicators of acid mine drainage (AMD) contamination. Unlike pH, they are both extremely sensitive to AMD even where large dilutions have occurred. The advantage of using sulfate to trace AMD is that unlike other ions it is not removed to any great extent by sorption or precipitation processes, being unaffected by fluctuations in pH. These two parameters are also closely associated as would be expected, as conductivity is especially sensitive to sulfate ions. Therefore, as sulfate analysis is difficult in the field, conductivity can be used to predict sulfate concentration in both AMD and contaminated surface waters using regression analysis. Most accurate predictions are achieved by using equations given for specific conductivity ranges or AMD sources. There is also potential to use conductivity to predict approximate concentrations of key metals when the pH of the water is within their respective solubility ranges.     

淮南谢—矿煤的组成对甲烷吸附性的影响

从淮南谢—矿五层煤（Ｃ＿（１３）、Ｂ＿（１１ｂ）、Ｂ＿（１０）、Ｂ＿（４ｂ）和Ａ＿３）中精选出镜煤、壳质暗煤、惰性暗煤及构造煤，采用重量法，分别测定它们的甲烷吸附量，从而研究不同成分组成的煤其甲烷吸附性能。     

Heavy metal retention in secondary precipitates from a mine rock dump and underlying soil, Dalarna, Sweden

This study investigates the retention of heavy metals in secondary precipitates from a sulfidic mine rock dump and underlying podzolic soils by means of mineralogical and chemical extraction methods. The rock dump, which is at least 50 years old, consists of a 5–10-cm-thick leached zone and an underlying 110–115-cm-thick accumulation zone. Optical microscopy and electron microprobe analyses confirm that pyrrhotite weathering has proceeded much further in the leached horizon relative to the accumulation horizon. The weathering of sulfides in the leached zone has resulted in the migration of most heavy metals to the accumulation zone or underlying soils, where they are retained in more stable phases such as secondary ferric minerals, including goethite and jarosite. Some metals are temporarily retained in hydrated ferrous sulfates (e.g., melanterite, rozenite). Received: 28 October 1996 · Accepted: 24 February 1997