• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.3 s.49
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• pp.129-138
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• 2006

In this study, we identified the secondary precipitates from Samsan-jeil and Sambong mine, Goseong, Gyeongnam by means of scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis and X-ray powder diffraction analysis. Copper sulfide minerals had been produced from the mines during last few decades, however they are not worked. White and blue precipitates were found at the downstream of mine rock dump at Sambong mine and green one was at Samsan-jeil mine. The white precipitate covered the host rock surface with thickness of $30{\mu}m$, and is a kind of diatom with $10{\mu}m$ in length and $3{\mu}m$ in width. It is a species Fragilaria constuens, which is contained a order Pennales(pennate diatom) and lives in fresh water. The blue precipitate is the alteration product of chalcopyrite. It resultes in the increase in the ratio Cu:Fe from 5 to 13. The green precipitate has worm-like morphology with $10{\sim}20nm$ in diameter and $200{\sim}300nm$ in length. It is mainly composed of secondary copper sulfate such as woodwardite. However, it could be formed by the activity of microorganism, because the copper content is more than any secondary copper sulfate reported in copper sulfide mine. In order to identity the green precipitate exactly, the further research is needed.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.5_1
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• pp.495-505
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• 2023

The Musan mine, situated in Musan County, Hamgyong Province, North Korea, stands as a prominent open-pit iron mine on the Korean Peninsula. This study focuses on estimating the mining and dumping activities within the Musan mine area by analyzing digital elevation model (DEM) changes. To calculate the long-term volume changes in the Musan mine, we digitized and converted the 1:200,000-scale third topographic map of the Joseon published in 1918 and compared with interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) DEMs, including Shuttle Radar Topography Mission DEM (2000) and Copernicus DEM (2011-2015). The findings reveal that over a century, Musan mine yielded around 1.37 billion tons of iron ore, while approximately 1.06 billion tons of waste rock were dumped. This study is particularly significant as it utilizes a historical topographic map predating the full-scale development of Musan mine to estimate a century's mining production and waste rock deposition. It is expected that this research provides valuable insights for future investigation of surface change of North Korea where the acquisition of in situ data remains challenging.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.387-399
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• 2018

Mine reclamation project is closely related to human's past mining activities and the current human's living environment. It is a reason for the national management. In order to efficiently carry out mine reclamation projects, a precise investigation and analysis of the underground space of the abandoned mine is required. Korea MINE RECLAMATION Corp. is developing a practical technology that is effective in investigating and actually measuring underground cavities. MIRECO EYE system is an exploration equipment for 3D digitization and figuration of underground cavities. As combining a laser, sonar and image acquisition technology, it enables access to information about inaccessible underground cavities and effective management of subsidence risk of mined area. and currently it is also utilized for various purposes in related areas such as investigating urban sinkholes. This article is precise numerical and geometric information analysis obtained through MIRECO EYE system.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.481-490
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• 2003

The objectives of this study are (1) to determine the extent and degree of As contamination of the water and sediments influenced by mining activity of the abandoned Au-Ag mines, (2) to examine As speciation In contaminated water, (3) to monitor variation of As contamination in water system throughout the dry and wet seasons, and (4) to investigate the As chemical form in the sediments through the sequential extraction analyses. Natural water(mine water, surface water and groundwater) and sediments were collected in six abandoned Au-Ag mine(Au-bearing quartz veins) areas. The contamination level of As in mine water of the Dongil(524${\mu}m$/L) is more higher than the tolerance level(500 ${\mu}m$/L) for waste water of mine area in Korea. Elevated levels of As in stream water were also found in the Dongil(range of 63.7∼117.6 ${\mu}m$/L.) and Gubong(range of 56.1∼62.9 ${\mu}m$/L) mine areas. Arsenic contamination levels in groundwater used by drinking water were more significant in the Dongil(11.3∼63.5 ${\mu}m$/L), Okdong(0.2∼68.9 ${\mu}m$/L) and Gubong(2.0∼101.0${\mu}m$/L) mine areas. Arsenate[As(V), $H_2AsO_4^-$] is more dominant than arsenite[As(III), $H_3AsO_3$] in water system of the most mine areas. The concentration ratios of As(III) to As(total), however, extend to the 95% in stream water of the Okdong mine area and 70∼82% in groundwater of the Okdong and Dongjung mine areas. As a study of seasonal variation in the water system, relatively high levels of As from the dongil mine area were found in April rather than in September. Sequential extraction analysis showed that As was predominantly present as coprecipitated with Fe hydroxides from sediment samples of the Dongjung and Gubong mine(35.9∼40.5%), which indicates its possibility of re-extraction and inducing elevated contamination of As in the reductive condition. In sediments from the Dongil, Okdong and Hwachon mine area, high percentage(55.2∼83.4%) of As sulfide form was found.

• Proceedings of the KSEEG Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.57-60
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• 2003

광업활동이 중지된 후 적절한 조치없이 방치된 폐광석들은 보다 빠르게 풍화될 수 있는 환경에 접하게 된다. 황화광물이 풍화되면 중금속이 용해되어 주변의 지표수나 지하수 및 토양의 오염을 초래한다. 용해된 중금속 이온들은 물리화학적 환경변화가 야기되면 보다 안정한 상태로 침전, 공침 또는 흡착되어지게 될 것이다. 만약 침전된 2차광물들이 불용성 광물이거나, 산성환경에서 비교적 안정한 광물에 흡착되어 제거된 중금속이라면 자연적으로 발생하고 있는 화학반응을 통하여 자연정화가 일어난다고 할 수 있다. (중략)

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.417-433
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• 1992

Lead-zinc-copper deposits of the Jeonheung and the Oksan mines around Euiseong area occur as hydrothermal quartz and calcite veins that crosscut Cretaceous sedimentary rocks of the Gyeongsang Basin. The mineralization occurred in three distinct stages (I, II, and III): (I) quartz-sulfides-sulfosalts-hematite mineralization stage; (II) barren quartz-fluorite stage; and (III) barren calcite stage. Stage I ore minerals comprise pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena and Pb-Ag-Bi-Sb sulfosalts. Mineralogies of the two mines are different, and arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, tetrahedrite and iron-rich (up to 21 mole % FeS) sphalerite are restricted to the Oksan mine. A K-Ar radiometric dating for sericite indicates that the Pb-Zn-Cu deposits of the Euiseong area were formed during late Cretaceous age ($62.3{\pm}2.8Ma$), likely associated with a subvolcanic activity related to the volcanic complex in the nearby Geumseongsan Caldera and the ubiquitous felsite dykes. Stage I mineralization occurred at temperatures between > $380^{\circ}C$ and $240^{\circ}C$ from fluids with salinities between 6.3 and 0.7 equiv. wt. % NaCl. The chalcopyrite deposition occurred mostly at higher temperatures of > $300^{\circ}C$. Fluid inclusion data indicate that the Pb-Zn-Cu ore mineralization resulted from a complex history of boiling, cooling and dilution of ore fluids. The mineralization at Jeonheung resulted mainly from cooling and dilution by an influx of cooler meteoric waters, whereas the mineralization at Oksan was largely due to fluid boiling. Evidence of fluid boiling suggests that pressures decreased from about 210 bars to 80 bars. This corresponds to a depth of about 900 m in a hydrothermal system that changed from lithostatic (closed) toward hydrostatic (open) conditions. Sulfur isotope compositions of sulfide minerals (${\delta}^{34}S=2.9{\sim}9.6$ per mil) indicate that the ${\delta}^{34}S_{{\Sigma}S}$ value of ore fluids was ${\approx}8.6$ per mil. This ${\delta}^{34}S_{{\Sigma}S}$ value is likely consistent with an igneous sulfur mixed with sulfates (?) in surrounding sedimentary rocks. Measured and calculated hydrogen and oxygen isotope values of ore-forming fluids suggest meteoric water dominance, approaching unexchanged meteoric water values. Equilibrium thermodynamic interpretation indicates that the temperature versus $fs_2$ variation of stage I ore fluids differed between the two mines as follows: the $fs_2$ of ore fluids at Jeonheung changed with decreasing temperature constantly near the pyrite-hematite-magnetite sulfidation curve, whereas those at Oksan changed from the pyrite-pyrrhotite sulfidation state towards the pyrite-hematite-magnetite state. The shift in minerals precipitated during stage I also reflects a concomitant $fo_2$ increase, probably due to mixing of ore fluids with cooler, more oxidizing meteoric waters. Thermodynamic consideration of copper solubility suggests that the ore-forming fluids cooled through boiling at Oksan and mixing with less-evolved meteoric waters at Jeonheung, and that this cooling was the main cause of copper deposition through destabilization of copper chloride complexes.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.457-475
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• 2018

For increase of reality in numerical analysis, a blasting vibration waveform obtained from field blast operations has been directly used for input parameters of dynamic analysis in the form of vibration velocity. A numerical model was built considering the geological characteristics of underground limestone opening as well as the mining stages in this opening, and the effect of blast operations on stability of underground limestone opening was investigated by dynamic numerical analysis. The adequacy of applying the real vibration waveform to dynamic analysis has been approved from the preliminary analysis, and the dynamic numerical analysis results show that the continuous mining operation can cause the collapse of roof in openings and the active yield zone around openings. Therefore, the additional reinforcements should be applied for ensuring the stability of underground limestone openings.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.57-66
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• 2015

A numerical analysis was performed of the seepage from and stability of a mine waste-dump slope in Imgi, Busan, considering rainfall intensity. The 40-45° slope angle of the waste dump is relatively steep, and the depth of the waste dump down to bedrock is 7-8 m. The groundwater level was 6.6 m below the surface. Various laboratory tests on samples obtained from the waste dump were performed to determine the input data for seepage and stability analyses of the waste-dump slope during rainfall. The results of seepage analysis for various rainfall intensities using the SEEP/W program show that the wetting front moved down with increasing rainfall duration. When the rainfall intensity was > 50 mm/ hour and the duration was > 24 hours, the waste dump became fully saturated because the wetting front reached the groundwater level. The results of slope stability analysis coupled with seepage analysis using the SLOPE/W program show that the safety factor of the slope decreased as the wetting front moved down due to rainfall infiltration. After continuous rainfall for 5-6 hours, the safety factor of the slope suddenly decreased but then recovered and converged. The sudden decrease was induced by an increase in pore-water pressure and a decrease in matric suction down to a certain depth as the wetting front approached the potential sliding surface.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.51-59
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• 2010

The sediments and soils around a mine are likely to be exposed to contamination of arsenic (As) through mining operations. In this study, the factors associated with As movement in soils around a closed zinc (Zn) mine were evaluated by the relationship of As distributions to physico-chemical properties of soils. A sequential extraction scheme, based on a soil P fractionation, was used to assess the As distributionsin solid phases. A significant difference in As distributions was found between paddy and upland soils. While As contents of paddy soils increased with soil depth, those of upland soils decreased with soil depth. In upland soils, As showed additional significant relationships to oxides of Si, Al and Fe. Although a major fraction of As in soils was found to be in the NaOH extractable fraction, As exhibited highly significant relationship to the Zn species that apparently originated from the mine. Therefore, As mobility around Zn mine seems to be governed by mass flow of the particulates containing As-associated Zn in paddy soils, whereas retention reactions such as adsorption, complexation, and precipitation seem to predominate in upland soils.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.45-55
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• 2003

This study investigates the fractional composition and the leaching characteristics of heavy metals in polluted soils due to mining activities. The fractionated composition of heavy metals is classified into five fractions; adsorbed, carbonate, reducible, organic and residual fraction. The status of humic substances in mine wastes of most sites are polyhumic except tailing from Sangdong mine. According to the sequential extraction procedures (SEPs), leaching probabilities of Cd in coal wastes and tailing are relatively low due to high percentage of residual fraction. 46.4% of Ni in tailings from Sangdong mine is probably leached under oxidized environment, and 39.4% of Cu in these tailings is readily extracted under strongly oxidized environment by organic fraction. According to leaching condition of pH 3.0 and pH 5.6, the amount of heavy metals leached out of coal wastes and tailing increases to 1/2 hours. At pH 3.0 and pH 5.6, concentration of Ni in tailing increases up three times of the initial value. Heavy metals released from coal wastes and tailing were not influenced significantly by leaching time.