• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.18 no.7
• /
• pp.41-53
• /
• 2013

The study is to propose the optimal separation technique of heavy metals (Pb and Zn) contaminated in soil for improving the removal efficiency by various applicable techniques. The heavy metal contaminated soil samples near abandoned mine X-1 and X-2 were used for the study. Firstly, the wet classification process was shown more than 80% of removal efficiency for lead and zinc. Meanwhile, the magnetic separation process was shown low removal efficiency for lead and zincs because those heavy metals were non-magnetic materials. For the next step, the flotation separation process was shown approximately 24.4% of removal efficiency for zinc, while the gravity concentration process was shown approximately 57% of removal efficiency for lead, and 19.9% of removal efficiency for zinc, respectively. Therefore, zinc contaminated in soil would be effectively treated by the combination technique of the wet classification and the flotation technique. Meanwhile, lead contaminated in soil would be effectively treated by the combination technique of the wet classification process and the flotation process. Furthermore, the extraction of organic matter was shown more effective with aeration, 3% of hydrogen peroxide and 3% of lime such as calcium hydroxide.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.17-25
• /
• 2008

Permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) technology can be applied to contaminated groundwater remediation. It is necessary to select adequate reactive material according to contaminant characterization. In groundwater. In this research, the reaction between reactive material and heavy metal contaminants was estimated through batch test. Reactive material was slag, which has been produced in Gwangyang power plant, and heavy metal contaminants were cadmium, lead and copper. Batch test consisted of two testes: 1) sorption equilibrium test and 2) sorption kinetic test. Sorption equilibrium test was performed for estimating slag sorption capacity against contaminants. And sorption kinetic test was performed for slag sorption rate with contaminants species, contaminants initial concentration and sulfate. Sorption capacity and sorption rate were affected by contaminant species. Sorption rate increased with increasing initial concentration in lead and copper but decreased with increasing initial concentration in cadmium. Sorption rate increased in existing sulfate. In low concentration, film diffusion was domain mechanism, and in high concentration, particle diffusion was domain mechanism.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.44 no.5
• /
• pp.734-744
• /
• 2011

A soil stabilization method is an effective and practical remediation alternative for arsenic (As) and heavy metal contaminated farmland soils nearby abandoned metal mine in Korea. This method is a technique whereby amendments are incorporated and mixed with a contaminated soil. Toxic metal bind to the amendments, which reduce their mobility in soil, so the successful stabilization of multi-element contaminated soil depends on the combination of critical elements in the soil and the type of amendments. The objective of this study is to investigate the treatment effects and applicability of limestone (LS) and steel refining slag (SRS) as the amendment for farmland soil contaminated with As and heavy metals, and a lab-column test was conducted for achieving this purpose. The result showed that soil treated with LS and SRS maintained pH buffer capacity and, as a result, the heavy metal leaching concentration was quite low below the water quality standard compared to untreated soil which leachate exceeding the water quality standard was observed, however, the arsenic concentration rather increased with increasing mixture ratio of SRS. This was believed to be related to phosphorus (P) contained in SRS, and dominancy in the competitive adsorption relation between As and P binding strongly to iron might be different according to soil characteristic. We suggested that LS is a effective amendment for reducing heavy metals in soil, and SRS should be used after investigating its applicability based on the adsorption selectivity of arsenic and phosphorus in selected soil.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.87-101
• /
• 1999

This study has been carried out to examine the feasibility of washing technique for reducing the heavy metal contamination level of tailing wastes and agricultural soil surrounding abandoned metal mines. Some organic acids with low molecular weight were used as washing solution. Initial contamination levels of copper and lead for some soil samples were found to exceed the standard levels of countermeasure and concern, and those of cadmium to approach the standard level of countermeasure. Experimental results using sequential extraction method revealed that more than half of copper and lead existing in tailing wastes are adsorbed forms available for plants. There are some proportional relationships between metal concentrations determined by using 0.1N HCI solution and those determined by sequential extractions. Citric acid was turned out to be superior to oxalic acid and acetic acid with low molecular weight in washing above three metals. When citric acid is used for washing heavy metals from soil, it is desirable to operate at pH less than 5.5 for better washing effect. Metal removal effect by citric acid solution has been proved to depend upon solution concentration and the mass ratio of solution to soil. Addition of SDS(Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate) to citric acid improved the washing effect of cadmium among three metal most significantly. while copper removal did not change. Washing technique using citric acid for removal of heavy metals from agricultural soil or tailing wastes is recognized to be an effective remediation method.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.173-185
• /
• 2015

Janggun mine (longitude $129^{\circ}$ 03'38.91" Latitude $36^{\circ}$ 51'31.59") had been operated as an underground mine for last few decades. As the part of the remediation process, the surface of tailing dump was covered with uncontaminated soil about 20 cm in depth and acacia trees were planted. Heavy metal uptake of acacia from tailing soil has continued for the past 15 years. Heavy metal concentration ranges of tailing soil that contaminated with As (66.43-9325.34 mg/kg), Cd (0.96-1.09 mg/kg), Cu (16.90-57.60 mg/kg), Pb (57.33-945.67 mg/kg), and Zn (154.48-278.61 mg/kg) have higher than those of control soil As (38.98 mg/kg), Cd (0.42 mg/kg), Cu (10.26 mg/kg), Pb (8.21 mg/kg), Zn (46.74 mg/kg). The As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations of leaf of acacia in highly contaminated tailing dump were 165.95, 0.04, 10.68, 3.18, 48.11 mg/kg, respectively. The metal contents of leaf of acacia tree that obtained from uncontaminated control soil are 1.31 of As, 3.90 of Cu, 0.22 of Pb and 11.01 mg/kg of Zn. It was investigated that in the acacia tree, heavy metals such as As, Cu, Pb and Zn tend to be more highly concentrated in bark and leaf, compared with sapwood and heartwood.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.54 no.4
• /
• pp.483-494
• /
• 2021

This study was carried out to investigate the feasibility of reducing clean cover soil using a flooded column test in arsenic-contaminated farmland reclamation of abandoned coal mine area that shows generally low or about worrisome level (25 mg/kg) of Korea soil environment conservation act unlike abandoned metal mine. During the monitoring period of soil solution for 4 months, chemical properties (pH, EC, ORP, Fe, Mn, Ca, and As) in each layer (clean soil cover and contaminated/stabilized soil) showed different variation. This result revealed that soil solution in stabilized or contaminated soil rarely affected that in cover soil. Whether stabilized or not, arsenic concentrations in the rice roots grown in the soil covers with the thickness of 40 cm decreased by 98% in compared with the that grown in the control soil. In case of the soil covers with 20 cm thickness on stabilized soil, it decreased by 80% and this was 22 percentage point higher than when the soil of lower layer was not stabilized. Thus, reducing clean cover soil could be possible in contaminated farmland soil reclamation if appropriate stabilization of contaminated soil is carried.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.39 no.3 s.178
• /
• pp.213-227
• /
• 2006

The geochemical evolution of mine drainage and leachate from waste rock dumps and stream water in Pb-As-rich abandoned Sechang mine area was investigated to elucidate mechanisms of trace metals. Total and sequential extractions were applied to estimate the distribution of trace metals in constituent phases of the waste rocks and to assess the mobility of trace metals according to physicochemical conditions. These discharged waters varied largely in chemical composition both spatially and temporally, and included cases with significant]y low pH (in the range 2.1-3.3), and extremely sulphate (up to 661 mg/l and metal contents (e.g. up to 169 mg/l for Zn, 27 mg/l for As, 3.97 mg/l for Pb, 2.99 mg/l for Cu, and 1.88 mg/l for Cd). Arsenic and heavy metal concentrations at the down-stream of Sechang mine have been decreased nearly to the background level in downstream sites (sites 8 and 16) without any artificial treatments. The oxidation of Fe-sulfides and the subsequent hydrolysis, of Fe(II), with precipitation of poorly crystallized minerals, constituted an efficient mechanism of natural attenuation which reduces considerably the transference of trace metals (i.e. Fe and As) to rivers. The dilution of drainage by mixing with pristine waters provoked an additional decrease of trace metal concentrations and a progressive pH increase. On the other hand, the most soluble cations (i.e. Zn) remained significantly as dissolved solutes until the pH was raised to approximately neutral values. With respect to ecotoxicity, it is likely that the Zn pollution is of particular concern in Sechang mine area. This was confirmed by the sequential extraction experiment, where Zn in wet waste-rock samples occurred predominantly in the exchangeable fraction (65-89% of total), while Pb was the highest in the reducible and carbonate fractions, and Cd, Cu and As in the residual fraction. Pb concentration in the readily available exchangeable fraction (34-48% of total) was dominated for dried waste rock samples. Considering the proportion of metals bound to the exchangeable and carbonate fractions, the comparative mobility of metals probably decreased in the order of Zn>Pb>Cd>As=Cu.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.44 no.3
• /
• pp.217-228
• /
• 2011

The feasibility study for the stabilization process using 5 amendments was performed to quantify As-immobilization efficiency in farmland soils around Samkwang abandoned mine, Korea. For the batch experiments, with 2% and 3% of granular lime(2-5 mm in diameter), leaching concentration of As from the soil decreased by 86% and 95% respectively, compared to that without the amendment. When 5% and 10% of granular limestone was added in the soil, As concentration decreased by 82% and 95%, showing that lime and limestone has a great capability to immobilize As in the soil. From the results of batch experiments, continuous column(15 cm in dimeter and 100 cm in length) tests using granular lime and limestone as amendments was performed. Without the amendment, As concentration from the effluent of the column ranged from 167 ${\mu}g$/L to 845 ${\mu}g$/L, which were higher than Korea Drinking Water Limit(50 ${\mu}g$/L). However, only with 1% and 2% of lime, As concentration from the column dramatically decreased by 97% for 9 years rainfall and maintained below 50 ${\mu}g$/L. With 5% of limestone and the mixed amendment(1% of lime + 2% of limestone), more than 95% diminution of As leaching from the column occurred within I year rainfall and maintained below 20 ${\mu}g$/L, suggesting that the capability of limestone to immobilize As in the farmland soil was outstanding and similar to that of lime. Results of experiments suggested that As stabilization process using limestone could be more available to immobilize As from the soil than using lime because of low pH increase and thus less harmful side effect.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.297-302
• /
• 2001

To compare the relationship between the vertical distribution of heavy metals in paddy soil and soil pH near four abandoned metal mines, 40 paddy surface soils $(0{\sim}15\;cm)$ and 12 soils with soil depths ($0{\sim}20$, $20{\sim}40$, $40{\sim}60$, $60{\sim}80$ and $80{\sim}100$ cm) were collected. Both total and extractable heavy metal contents in soils were analyzed after acid digestion $(HNO_3:HClO_4:H_2SO_4)$ and 0.1 N-HCl extraction, respectively. The 0.1 N-HCl fraction ratio over total contents of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn were 57, 30, 23, and 19% respectively. Vertical distribution of heavy metals varied considerably among the different mines. In Choil mine, there was no difference in concentrations of all the metals with soil layers. However, Cu and Pb contents in Gahak mime were high at $0{\sim}20\;cm$ depth, and Zn was high at $0{\sim}40\;cm$ depth. In Sinyemi mine, Cd and Cu contents were high at $0{\sim}40\;cm$ depth. Cd, Cu, and Pb contents in Okcheon mine were high through all soil profiles up to 100 cm soil depth. The 0.1 N-HCl fraction ratio over total contents of heavy metals with soil layers were very high at $0{\sim}20\;cm$ depth. As soil depth increased, fraction ratio of heavy metals decreased at the high soil pH (Gahak, Sinyemi, and Choil mines). However, the ratios of Cd, Cu, and Pb in Okcheon mine, having a relatively lower soil pH than other sites, were relatively similar through all the soil profiles up to 100 cm soil depth. Therefore, it was estimated that the mobility and availability of heavy metals in soils were affected by soil pH.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.209-218
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this study was to accumulation of the heavy metals by riparian vegetation throughout analysis of the heavy metal concentration in riparian vegetation, water, and sediment near mine drainage. According to analyzing concentration of the heavy metals in riparian vegetation, water, and sediment the heavy metal was indicated at the leaf significantly. Compared with the concentration of sediment soil, the maximum concentration of the As, Cd, CN, Pb, Zn was higher 2.6, 2.6, 25, non-detect, and 15 times in leaf. Also those concentration have 9.6, 16.6, 25, 1.6, and 25 times in root. As the results, the author can know the sediment has a very relative to vegetation in mine drainage. because, the increasing of concentration of heavy metal in sediment gives the more accumulative concentration of heavy metal in vegetation. Compared with the concentration of conta minated site and non-contaminated site. As, Cd, CN, Pb, Zn the maximum concentration in sediment soil was higher 5.7, 258.1, 10.9, 370.0, and 298.3 times respectively. In case of vegetation, the maximum concentration of the As, Cd, CN, Pb, Zn was higher 5.6, 62.3, 5.0, non-detect, and 30.6 times in leaf. Also those concentration have 8.5, 63.3, 2.6, 60.7, and 62.1 times in root. In this study, the author can surmise that there indicated a lot of adsorption with the heavy metal concentration in contaminated mine drainage.