Uranium pollution of South African streams – An overview of the situation in gold mining areas of the Witwatersrand

During more than a century of gold mining in South Africa large amounts of tailings were produced, which now cover vast areas in densely populated regions. These dumps contain elevated levels of uranium and other toxic heavy metals associated with gold in the mined ore. Large-scale extraction of uranium from auriferous ore only took place during the cold war, leaving tailings with high uranium concentrations that were deposited before and after this period. Recent studies found elevated levels of the radioactive heavy metal in groundwater and streams, mainly attributed to the discharge of contaminated water from mines. In this paper the contribution of seepage from slimes dams to the uranium pollution of adjacent streams is analysed. Based on geochemical analyses of samples, field observations and long-term in situ measurements of hydraulic and hydrochemical parameters at selected mining sites across the Witwatersrand goldfields, the extent, mechanisms and dynamics of diffuse stream contamination by tailings seepage is characterised. Temporal and spatial variations of the process and the associated hazard potential are discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

尾矿堆积坝透镜体分布状态研究

尾矿堆积坝中尾砂透镜体具有复杂的分布状态，对坝体的稳定状况有极大影响。根据工程地质勘察所揭露出的透镜体长度信息，定义了一个分布系数米描述透镜体分布状态，并对德兴铜矿2^#尾矿坝、永平铜矿1^#尾矿坝、安徽某铜矿尾矿坝及银山铅锌矿尾矿坝主剖面进行了分析。结果表明，分布系数能较好地反映出尾矿堆积坝的沉积状况，即分布系数值越大，尾矿坝的沉积状况越好：分布系数与尾矿土的不均匀系数成正相关，与粉砂不均匀系数有定量的关系。这些结果对尾矿坝工程地质勘察资料的分析及尾砂沉积规律的认识可能会有重要意义。     

Environmental geochemistry of the Guanajuato Mining District, Mexico

The Guanajuato Mining District, once one of the major silver producers in the world, has been exploited for silver and gold from low-sulfidation quartz- and calcite-rich epithermal veins since 1548. Currently, there are some 150 million tonnes of low-grade ore piles and mine-waste material (mostly tailings) piles, covering a surface area of 15 to 20 km² scattered in a 100-km² region around the city of Guanajuato. Most of the historic tailings piles were not deposited as formal tailings impoundments. They were deposited as simple valley-filling piles without concern for environmental issues. Most of those historical tailings piles are without any vegetation cover and undergo strong eolian and hydrologic erosion, besides the natural leaching during the rainy season (which can bring strong thunderstorms and flash flows). There is public concern about possible contamination of the local aquifer with heavy metals (Fe, Mn, Zn, As and Se) derived from the mining activities.Experimental and field data from this research provide strong geochemical evidence that most of the mine-waste materials derived from the exploitation of the epithermal veins of the region have very low potential for generation of acid mine drainage due to the high carbonate/sulfide ratio (12:1), and very low potential for leaching of heavy metals into the groundwater system. Furthermore, geochemical evidence (experimental and modeled) indicates that natural processes, like metal adsorption onto Fe-oxy-hydroxides surfaces, control the mobility of dissolved metals. Stable isotope data from surface water, groundwater wells (150-m depth) and mine-water (300- to 500-m depth) define an evaporation line (δD=5.93 δ¹⁸O=13.04), indicating some deep infiltration through a highly anisotropic aquifer with both evaporated water (from the surface reservoirs) and meteoric water (not evaporated). Zinc concentrations in groundwater (0.03 to 0.5 ppm) of the alluvial aquifer, some 15 km from the mineralized zone, are generally higher than Zn concentrations in experimental tailings leachates that average less than 0.1 ppm. Groundwater travel time from the mineralized area to the alluvial valley is calculated to range from 50 to several hundred years. Thus, although there has been enough time for Zn sourced from the tailings to reach the valley, Zn concentrations in valley groundwater could be due to natural dissolution processes in the deep portions of the epithermal veins.     

龙都尾矿库地下渗流场的数值模拟分析

利用2D-FLOW计算软件,对龙都尾矿库在不同条件下的渗流进行了模拟计算。其中,初期坝按透水和堵塞两种情况,干滩面长度分100,200,300 m三种情况考虑;同时,首次考虑了大气降雨对尾矿坝渗流场的影响,分别计算了50,100,200 mm/d三种雨型。通过计算,获得了龙都尾矿库在不同条件下地下渗流的变化规律。从计算结果中发现,如果初期坝被堵塞,则坝体浸润线会抬高,与尾矿堆积坝坝面相交,并从坝面溢出,对坝体的稳定性产生不利影响;干滩面距离的长短对坝体浸润线有影响,但均不会与堆积坝坝面相交,不会从坝面溢出;大气降雨对坝体的渗流影响较大,从模拟计算中可以看出,大气降雨越大,浸润线抬升越高,对坝体的稳定越不利。     

青海省茫崖石棉矿矿区环境地质问题及治理对策

论文在阐述茫崖石棉矿矿区地质环境质量现状及尾矿可利用价值的基础上,依据矿区粉尘污染、废尾矿成堆,不合理削坡引发灾害事件三大矿山环境地质问题的特点,本着“预防为主,防治结合”,在保护中开发,在开发中保护和“依靠科技进步、发展循环经济,建设绿色矿业”的原则,针对矿区干旱少雨的自然环境特征,提出封存尾矿堆及矿坑边坡削坡的治理方法,借以消除粉尘污染和边坡地质灾害隐患,达到综合利用的目的。     

关于用生态工艺解决矿山环境污染问题的探讨

面对我们生存环境日趋恶化的现状,加快对矿山污染问题的解决已成当务之急。本文从提高对环境、生态系统的认识入手,提出用生态工艺解决矿山污染工作的办法。采矿、选矿使用生态工艺（闭路循环工艺）,使矿业活动的固体废弃物──围岩、废矿石、尾矿石建鱼鳞坑、梯田埂。实现“环境补偿”,从而提高了环境的自净能力,使矿业得以持续稳定地发展。     

砷在石膏中固定机制:掺杂态和表面吸附沉淀态以及其在砷污染控制中的作用

石膏是矿山开采及冶炼等工业过程产生的大宗固体废弃物。工业活动产生的废液普遍有高含量的砷等有毒元素,这导致所产生的石膏也含有较高浓度的砷等有毒元素。研究砷在石膏中地球化学行为和归趋对含砷石膏的砷污染控制具有重要的理论和实际意义。然而目前对含砷石膏中不同形态的砷的定量测定和分析尚存在问题。本文在不同pH值的条件下共沉淀砷和石膏,利用电感耦合等离子体质谱(ICP-MS)、同步辐射X-射线吸收近边光谱(XANES)和电子顺磁共振(EPR)对石膏中掺杂态和表面吸附沉淀态的砷进行定量分析。ICP-MS的结果表明随着pH从2升高到12 和14,石膏中砷的含量由57×10^-6 增加到 67 470×10^-6和63 980×10^-6。同步辐射X-射线吸收近边光谱和电子顺磁共振光谱分析表明石膏样品中主要含有五价砷。在2≤pH≤7.5时,固体样品中同步辐射吸收边后的峰形状和掺杂态砷的形状类似,而在pH≥8时,其边后峰的形状发生明显的变化;粉末电子顺磁共振(EPR)定量分析表明在2≤pH≤7.5时砷在石膏中的含量和ICP-MS的分析结果一致,而在pH≥8时其含量明显小于ICP-MS的分析结果。这些结果揭示了在2≤pH≤7.5时,砷在石膏中主要以掺杂态的形式存在,而在pH≥8时大部分砷是以吸附态或表面沉淀的形式存在。五价砷在石膏中的含量和固定机制随着pH值的变化而变化,其研究对了解尾矿中石膏对砷污染的控制作用具有重要作用。此外,研究石膏中由辐射导致的g约为2.33的[AsO₃]^2-自由基电子顺磁共振特征峰,有助于补充和完善石膏的电子顺磁共振特征谱在地质测年及辐射剂量学中的应用。     

深海多金属硫化物开采作业安全与环境影响分析及对策研究

随着各国对深海多金属硫化物勘探与开发的步伐逐渐加快,为确保并指导承包者在区域内开采多金属硫化物作业安全且符合保护环境规定,首先论述开采深海多金属硫化物的工艺技术,以此为基础结合加拿大鹦鹉螺和美国海王星矿业公司试采多金属硫化物案例,分析其作业过程所涉及的硫矿泄漏、结构失效、机械伤害、火灾爆炸等安全问题和破坏海底动植物群及其栖息地、排放采矿废水尾矿等环境影响,最后就作业安全与环境影响问题分别给出了针对性的对策与建议,可为工程实践提供参考。     

Growth of Prosopis juliflora on pegmatite tailings from Nellore Mica Belt, Andhra Pradesh, India

 Prosopis juliflora was found to be occurring extensively on the pegmatitic tailings. Leaves and twigs of P. juliflora and soil samples were analyzed for mineral elements. The analysis has shown variation in the absorption and accumulation of mineral elements of the same plant species growing at different areas. The plant species accumulated large concentrations of Sr, B, and Ba. The ubiquitous thorny shrub P. juliflora has an extraordinary ecologic amplitude and tolerance for a variety of elements. Received: 10 October 1997 · Accepted: 13 January 1998     

Floodplain sedimentation rates in an alpine watershed determined by radionuclide techniques

Vertical profiles of the activities of ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb were measured on floodplain sediment cores and upland soil cores along the Soda Butte Creek and the Yellowstone River to determine floodplain sedimentation rates. The position of mine tailings from a 1950 impoundment failure was used as a stratigraphic marker to estimate the sedimentation rates and to make comparisons with rates provided by radionuclide‐based methods. Mass accumulation (sedimentation) rates calculated from the position of the mine tailings ranged from 0·00 to 0·17 g cm^?2 yr^?1 and were in good agreement with sedimentation rates calculated from the inventories of ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb. Sedimentation rates calculated from the position of the ¹³⁷Cs peak generally overestimated the sedimentation rates, probably because of increased downward migration of ¹³⁷Cs caused by the low pH of water moving through the mine tailings or the high permeability of floodplain sediments relative to upland reference soils. This study demonstrates that the ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb inventory methods for determining sedimentation rates can be applied to an alpine floodplain where sedimentation events are episodic and where orographic effects on precipitation generate strong downstream gradients in the delivery of atmospheric radionuclides. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.