• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.125-139
• /
• 2010

Behavior of heavy metals and arsenic in the tailings of Songcheon Au-Ag mine was characterized via both mineralogical and geochemical methods. Mineral composition of the tailings was investigated by X-ray diffractometry, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) and total concentrations of heavy metals and arsenic and their chemical forms were analyzed by total digestion of aqua regia and sequential extraction method, respectively. The results of mineralogical study indicate that the tailings included mineral particles of resinous shape mainly consisting of galena, sphalerite, pyrite, quartz, and scorodite, and specifically socordite was identified in the form of matrix. EPMA quantitative analyses were performed to evaluate the weatherability of each mineral, and the results suggest that it decreased in the sequence of arsenopyrite > galena > sphalerite > pyrite. The weathering pattern of galena was observed to show distinctive zonal structure consisting of secondary minerals such as anglesite and beudantite. In addition, almost all of arsenopyrite has been altered to scorodite existing asmatrix and galena, sphalerite, and pyrite which have lower weatherability than arsenopyrite were identified within the matrix of scorodite. During the process of alteration of arsenopyrite into scorodite, it is likely that a portion of arsenic was lixiviated and caused a great deal of detrimental effects to surrounding environment. The results of EPMA quantitative analyses verify that the stability of scorodite was relatively high and this stable scorodite has restrained the weathering of other primary minerals within tailings as a result of its coating of mineral surfaces. For this reason, Songcheon tailings show the characteristics of the first weathering stage, although they have been exposed to the surface environment for a long time. Based on the overall results of mineralogical and geochemical studies undertaken in this research, if the tailings are kept to be exposed to the surface environment and the weathering process is continuous, not only hazardous heavy metals, such as lead and arsenic seem to be significantly leached out because their larger portions are being partitioned in weakly-bound (highly-mobile) fractions, but the potential of arsenic leaching is likely to be high as the stability of scorodite is gradually decreased. Consequently, it is speculated that the environmental hazard of Songcheon mine is significantly high.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.481-489
• /
• 2022

Various types of karst topographies are found worldwide. Owing to their global distribution, karst areas have been extensively studied by scientists who investigate new discoveries by linking the characteristics of karst topographies with their own research fields. However, there have been only a few studies on karsts in the Republic of Korea, and little research exists on their hydrogeology. Fragmentary studies have been conducted on the hydrochemical characteristics of groundwater in limestone areas, the causes of high arsenic concentrations in groundwater, and the hydraulic conductivity of limestone areas. Research on hydrogeological characterization and flow mechanisms in these areas has only began recently. Identification and the proper management of available groundwater resources in karst (limestone) areas is essential as their unique geological characteristics render it difficult to construct reservoirs or dams at appropriate scales. We have reviewed prior work on karsts in the Republic of Korea to provide information that supports water resource security in the karst areas, to improve the understanding of the equitable use of water resources, and to identify the best management practices for groundwater resource resilience improvement.

• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.92-96
• /
• 1997

A new site-specific recombinase sin, as a component of a putatie transposon has been cloned and its base sequence has been determined. The proposed sin shows a hish degree of homology with pI9789-sin and pSK1-sin. There is a large (16 bp) inverted repeat downstream of proposed sin and the postulate dhelix-turn-helix motif is located at the extreme C-terminus of the poposed Sin. The transposase gene (tnpA) and .betha.-lactamase gene (blaZ) are located upstream of sin and arsenate reductase gene (arsC) and arsenic efflux pump protein gene (ars B) are downstream. This genetic arrangement seems to be a part of a new putative transposon because there is no known transposon with a gene arrangement of tnpA-blaZ-sin-arsC.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.929-935
• /
• 1986

In this paper, we describe the physical modelling and numerical aspects of a program called PRECISE(Program for Efficient Calculation of Impurity Profile in Semiconductor by Elimination) which calcualtes a two-dimensional impurity profile in silicon due to diffusion and ion implantation steps. The PRECISE enables rapid prediction of the two-dimensional impurity profile near the mask edge-or the bird's beak during the local oxidation process. This has been developed by modifying the existing one-dimentional simulator, DIFSIM(DIFfusion SIMulator to include models for arsenic diffusion and emitter dip effect which were found out to agree fairly well with the xperimental data.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.73-80
• /
• 2007

This study was carried out to separate the heavy toxic metals in eco-building materials by low-temperature pyrolysis, especially arsenic (As) compounds in CCA wood preservative as a solid in char. The pyrolysis was carried out to heat the CCA-treated Hemlock at $280^{\circ}C$, $300^{\circ}C$, $320^{\circ}C$, and $340^{\circ}C$ for 60 mins. Laboratory scale pyrolyzer composed of [preheater$\rightarrow$pyrolyzer$\rightarrow$1st water scrubber$\rightarrow$2nd bubbling flask with 1% $HNO_3$ solution$\rightarrow$vent], and was operated to absorb the volatile metal compound particulates at the primary water scrubber and the secondary nitric acid bubbling flask with cooling condenser of $4^{\circ}C$ under nitrogen stream of 20 mL/min flow rate. And the contents of copper, chromium and arsenic compounds in its pyrolysis such as carbonized CCA treated wood, 1st washing and 2nd washing liquors as well as its raw materials, were determined using ICP-AES. The results are as follows : 1. The yield of char in low-temperature pyrolysis reached about 50 percentage similar to the result of common pyrolytic process. 2. The higher the pyrolytic temperature was, the more the volatiles of CCA, and in particular, the arsenic compounds were to be further more volatile above $320^{\circ}C$, even though the more repetitive and sequential monitorings were necessary. 3. More than 85 percentage of CCA in CCA-treated wood was left in char in such low-temperature pyrolytic condition at $300^{\circ}C$. 4. Washing system for absorption of volatile CCA in this experiment required much more contacting time between volatile gases and water to prevent the loss of CCA compounds, especially the loss of arsenic compound. 5. Therefore, more complete recovery of CCA components in CCA-treated wood required the lower temperature than $320^{\circ}C$, and the longer contacting time of volatile gases and water needed the special washing and recovery system to separate the toxic and volatile arsenic compounds in vent gases.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.31 no.8
• /
• pp.619-626
• /
• 2009

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of Fe and Mn oxides coated granular activated carbons (FMOCGs) for the removal of arsenite and arsenate by oxidation and adsorption mechanisms using surface characterization and batch adsorption experiments. Within four manufactured adsorbents, Fe and Mn contents of FMOCG-1 was the highest (178.12 mg Fe/g and 11.25 mg Mn/g). In kinetic results, As(III) was removed by oxidation and adsorption with FMOCGs. Removal of arsenic by FMOCGs increased as pH value of the solution decreased. The adsorption isotherm results were well fitted with Langmuir isotherm. Adsorption amount of As(V) onto FMOCGs was higher than that of As(III) and the maximum adsorption capacities of FMOCGs for As(III) and As(V) were 1.38~8.44 mg/g and 2.91~9.63 mg/g, respectively.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.26 no.8
• /
• pp.955-966
• /
• 2017

Amendment of multi-binders was employed for the immobilization of metal(loid)s in field-contaminated soils to reduce the leaching potential. The effect of different types of multi-binders (lime/diammonium phosphate, diammonium phosphate/ladle slag and lime/ladle slag) on the solidification/stabilization of metal(loid)s (Pb, Zn, Cu and As) from the smelter soil and mine tailing soil were investigated. The amended soils were evaluated by measuring Toxicity Characterization Leaching Procedure (TCLP) leaching concentration of metal(loid)s. The results show that the leaching concentration of metal(loid)s decreased with the immobilization using multi-binders. In terms of TCLP extraction, the mixed binder was effective in the order of lime/ladle slag > diammonium phosphate/ladle slag > lime/diammonium phosphate. When the mixed binder amendment (0.15 g lime+0.15 g ladle slag for 1g smelter soil and 0.05 g lime+0.1 g ladle slag for 1 g mine tailing soil, respectively) was used, the leaching concentration of metal(loid)s decreased by 90%. However, As leaching concentration increased with diammonium phosphate/lime and diammonium phosphate/ladle slag amendment competitive anion exchange between arsenic ion and phosphate ion from diammonium phosphate. The Standard, Measurements and Testing programme (SM&T) analysis indicated that fraction 1 (F1, exchangeable fraction) decreased, while fraction 4 (F4, residual fraction) increased. The increased immobilization efficiency was attributed to the increase in the F4 of the SM&T extraction. From this work, it was possible to suggest that both arsenic and heavy metals can be simultaneously immobilized by the amendment of multi-binder such as lime/ladle slag.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 2006.10a
• /
• pp.53-54
• /
• 2006

Arsenic doped p-type ZnO thin films have been realized on intrinsic (100) GaAs substrate by RF magnetron sputtering and thermal annealing treatment. p-Type ZnO exhibits the hole concentration of $9.684{\times}10^{19}cm^3$, resistivity of $2.54{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}cm$, and mobility of $25.37\;cm^2/Vs$. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra of As doped p-type ZnO thin films reveal neutral acceptor bound exciton ($A^{0}X$) of 3.3437 eV and a transition between free electrons and acceptor levels (FA) of 3.2924 eV. Calculated acceptor binding energy ($E_A$) is about 0.1455 eV. Thermal activation and doping mechanism of this film have been suggested by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). p-Type formation mechanism of As doped ZnO thin film is more related to the complex model, namely, $As_{Zn}-2V_{Zn}$, in which the As substitutes on the Zn site, rather than simple model, Aso, in which the As substitutes on the O site. ZnO-based p-n junction was fabricated by the deposition of an undoped n-type ZnO layer on an As doped p-type ZnO layer.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.197-207
• /
• 2013

Soil samples collected at the Kangwon and Donghae mines were investigated for the characterization of heavy metals using physicochemical and mineralogical properties. Arsenic (As) concentrations of soil samples sieved above 18 mesh and under 325 mesh at the Kangwon mine are 250.5 to 445.7 ppm, respectively. For soil samples sieved above 18 mesh at the Donghae mine, the concentrations of As, Pb, and Zn are 70.4, 1,055, and 781.9, while 117.7 ppm for As, 2,295 ppm for Pb, and 1,346 ppm for Zn are shown for the samples sieved under 325 mesh. XRD and SEM data indicated that the samples from the Kangwon mine included quartz, mica, albite, chlorite, magnetite, and amphibole while those from the Donghae mine contained quartz, mica, kaolinite, chlorite, amphibole, and rutile. SEM-EDS showed that magnetite found in the samples at the Kangwon mine was positively correlated with arsenic concentrations whereas ilmenite in the samples from the Donghae mine contained only small amount of As. Our results suggest that physicochemical and mineralogical characterization plays an important role in optimizing recovery treatments of soils contaminated in mine development areas.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.27-38
• /
• 2003

Arsenic contamination around Au-Ag mining areas occurs mainly from the oxidation of arsenopyrite which is frequently contained in mine tailings. In weathered tailings, oxidation of sulfide minerals typically results in the formation of abundant ferric (oxy)hydroxides or (oxy)hydroxysulfates near the tailings surface, and arsenic may be associated with these secondary precipitates. In this study, solid phases of arsenic in weathered tailings of some Au-Ag mines were investigated through the SEM/EDS and sequential extraction analyses. The stability of As solid phases and the leaching potential were assessed with the variation of pH and Eh conditions. Oxidation of sulfides in the tailings samples was indicated by depletion of S molar concentrations compared to As and heavy metals. Under XRD examinations, jarosite as an Fe-oxyhydroxysulfate was found in the tailings of Deokeum, Dongil and Dadeok, and scorodite as an As-bearing crystalline mineral was identified from Dadeok which has the highest concentration of As (4.36 wt.%). Beudantite-like phases and some Pb-arsenates were also found under SEM/EDS analysis, and most of As phases were associated with Fe-(oxy)hydroxides and (oxy)hydroxysulfates despite a few arsenopyrite from Samgwang and Gubong. Sequential extraction analysis also showed that As was present predominantly as coprecipitated with Fe hydroxides from Dongil, Dadeok and Myungbong (72∼99%), and as sulfides (58%) and Fe hydroxide-associated forms (40%) from Samgwang and Gubong. In the tailings leaching experiment, As was released with high amounts by the dissolution of As-bearing Fe(oxy)hydroxysulfates in the lowest pH (2.7) conditions of Deokeum, and by desorption under alkaline conditions of Samgwang and Gubong. Higher leaching rates of arsenite(+3) were found under acidic conditions, which pose a higher risk to water quality. Changes in pH and Eh conditions coupled with microbial processes could influence the stabilities of the As solid phases, and thus, time amendments or landfilling of weathered tailings may result in enhanced As mobilization.