• Title/Summary/Keyword: Mine drainage water

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Acid Mine Drainage and Heavy Metal Contamination of Stream Sediments in the Okdongcheon Stream, Sangdong Area, South Korea (강원도 상동지역 옥동천의 광산 산성수 및 하상퇴적물의 중금속 오염)

  • Cheong, Young Wook;Thornton, Iain
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.27 no.1
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    • pp.101-113
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    • 1994
  • Geochemical investigations based on measurements of water parameters and sampling of stream sediments have been carried out, in the Okdongcheon stream and its tributaries in the Sangdong area of South Korea. There are two main problems occurring in the Okdongcheon stream: an acid mine drainage in the upper reaches and toxic trace metal contamination of the stream sediments mainly in the lower reaches. Acid mine water originating from coal mining was neutralized at the confluence of the Cheonpyongcheon stream whilst suspended solids due to flocculation of iron in water caused turbidity which was undesirable. Sediments in the Okdongcheon stream have been contaminated by mining activites. Iron was heavily concentrated in sediments in the upper Okdongcheon whilst toxic trace metals including Pb, Cu, Zn, Co, Cd, As and Bi were accumulated in sediments at stations draining metallic mining areas and near the tailings dam. There is now a requrement to neutralise the acid mine drainage and to use site-specific analysis of biological communities to ensure the conservation and preservation of aquatic organisms.

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The Applicability of the Acid Mine Drainage Sludge in the Heavy Metal Stabilization in Soils (산성광산배수슬러지의 토양 중금속 안정화 적용 가능성)

  • Kim, Min-Suk;Min, Hyungi;Lee, Byeongjoo;Chang, Sein;Kim, Jeong-Gyu;Koo, Namin;Park, Jeong-Sik;Bak, Gwan-In
    • Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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    • v.33 no.2
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    • pp.78-85
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    • 2014
  • BACKGROUND: Recent studies using various industrial wastes for heavy metal stabilization in soil were conducted in order to find out new alternative amendments. The acid mine drainage sludge(AMDS) contains lots of metal oxides(hydroxides) that may be useful for heavy metal stabilization not only waste water treatment but also soil remediation. The aim of this study was to investigate the applicability of acid mine drainage sludge for heavy metals stabilization in soils METHODS AND RESULTS: Alkali soil contaminated with heavy metals was collected from the agricultural soils affected by the abandoned mine sites nearby. Three different amounts(1%, 3%, 5%) of AMDS were applied into control soil and contaminated soil. For determining the changes in the extractable heavy metals, $CaCl_2$ and Mehlich-3 were applied as chemical assessments for metal stabilization. For biological assessments, lettuce(Lactuca sativa L.) and chinese cabbage(Brassica rapa var. glabra) were cultivated and accumulation of heavy metals on each plant were determined. It was revealed that AMDS reduced heavy metal mobility and bioavailability in soil, which resulted in the decreases in the accumulation of As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn in each plant. CONCLUSION: Though the high level of heavy metal concentrations in AMDS, any considerable increase in the heavy metal availability was not observed with control and contaminated soil. In conclusion, these results indicated that AMDS could be applied to heavy metal contaminated soil as an alternative amendments for reducing heavy metal mobility and bioavailability.

Evaluation of Purification Efficiency of Passive Treatment Systems for Acid Mine Drainage and Characterization of Precipitates in Ilwal Coal Mine (일월탄광에서 유출되는 산성광산배수 자연정화시설의 정화 효율 평가 및 침전물의 특성연구)

  • Ryu, Chung Seok;Kim, Yeong Hun;Kim, Jeong Jin
    • Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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    • v.27 no.2
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    • pp.97-105
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    • 2014
  • Artificial precipitation ponds, consisting of three steps of oxidation pond, successive alkalinity producing system (SAPS) and swamp, were constructed for the treatment of the acid mine drainage from the Iwal coal mine. The efficacies of the passive treatment system in terms of neutralization of mine water and removal of dissolved ions were evaluated by the chemical analyses of the water samples. Mine water in the mine adits was acidic, showing the pH value of 2.28-2.42 but the value increased rapidly to 6.17-6.53 in the Oxidation pond. The purification efficiencies for the removal of Al and Fe were 100%, whereas those of $SO_4$, Mg, Ca, and Mn were relatively low of 50%, 40%, 24%, and 59%, respectively. These results indicate a need for application of additional remediation techniques in the passive treatment systems. The precipitates that formed at the bottom of the mine water channels were mainly schwertmannite ($Fe_8O_8(OH)_6SO_4$) and those in the leachate water were 2-line ferrihydrite ($Fe_2O_3{cdot}0.5H_2O$).

Mineralogy of Precipitates and Geochemisty of Stream Receiving Mine Water in the Sambong Coal Mine (삼봉탄광 주변 수계에 대한 지화학적 특성 및 침전물에 대한 광물학적 연구)

  • Woo, Eum Sik;Kim, Young Hun;Kim, Jeong Jin
    • Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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    • v.29 no.4
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    • pp.199-207
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    • 2016
  • One of the most significant environmental issues in abandoned coal mine is acidic drainage which gives rise to the many environmental problems that acidifying streams water, sedimentation of iron/aluminium hydroxide, and pollution of water and soil. Water and precipitate samples for experiments were collected from stream and bottom in the pit mouth of Sambong mine. Mine water shows pH range from 7.24 to 7.94 in winter and 3.87 to 5.73 in summer season. The EC shows range from 432 to $897{\mu}S/cm$ at the stream receiving mine water. The highest concentrations of cations such as Mg, Al, Ca, and Mn are showing 15.50, 4.56, 85.30, 12.76 mg/L in the pit mouth, respectively. The reddish brown precipitates (Munsell color 10R-5YR in winter and 2.5YR-5Y in summer) consist mainly of 2-line ferrihydrite and schwertmannite. The precipitates are characterized by rod or cylindrical forms, and coccus or sphere of 0.1 to $0.5{\mu}m$ in diameter.

Seasonal Variation and Natural Attenuation of Trace Elements in the Stream Water Affected by Mine Drainage from the Abandoned Indae Mine Areas (인대광산 지역 광산배수에 영향을 받은 하천에서 미량원소의 계절적인 수질변화와 자연저감)

  • Kang, Min-Ju;Lee, Pyeong-Koo;Choi, Sang-Hoon
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.40 no.3 s.184
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    • pp.277-293
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    • 2007
  • Seasonal and spatial variations in the concentrations of trace elements, pH and Eh were found in a creek watershed affected by mine drainage and leachate from several waste rock dumps within the As-Pb-rich Indae mine site. Because of mining activity dating back to about 40 years ago and rupture of the waste rock dumps, this creek was heavily contaminated. Due to the influx of leachate and mine drainage, the water quality of upstream reach in this creek was characterized by largest seasonal and spatial variations in concentrations of Zn(up to $5.830 mg/{\ell}$), Cu(up to $1.333 mg/{\ell}$), Cd(up to $0.031 mg/{\ell}$) and $SO_4^{2-}$(up to $173 mg/{\ell}$), relatively acidic pH values (3.8-5.1) and highly oxidized condition. The most abundant metals in the leachate samples were in order of Zn($0.045-13.909 mg/{\ell}$), Fe($0.017-8.730mg/{\ell}$), Cu($0.010-4.154mg/{\ell}$) and Cd($n.d.-0.077mg/{\ell}$), with low pH(3.1-6.1), and high $SO_4^{2-}$(up to $310 mg/{\ell}$). The mine drainage also contained high concentrations of Zn, Cu, Cd and $SO_4^{2-}$ and remained constantly near-neutral pH values(6.5-7.0) in all the year. While the leachate and mine drainage might not affect short-term fluctuations in flow, it may significantly influence the concentrations of chemicals in the stream. The abundance and chemistry of Fe-(oxy)hydroxide within this creek indicated that the Fe-(oxy)hydroxide formation could be responsible for some removal of trace elements from the creek waters. Spatial and seasonal variations along down-stream reach of this creek were caused largely by the influx of water from uncontaminated tributaries. In addition, the trace metal concentrations in this creek have been decreased nearly down to the background level at a short distance from the discharge points without any artificial treatments after hydrologic mixing in a tributary. The nonconservative(i.e. precipitation, adsorption, oxidation, dissolution etc.) and conservative(hydrologic mixing) reactions constituted an efficient mechanism of natural attenuation which reduces considerably the transference of trace elements to rivers.

A study on the development of drainage system for rapid drainage of thermal power plant outdoor coal storage during rainfall and characteristics of discharged water quality (강우시 화력발전소 옥외저탄장 신속한 배수를 위한 배수시스템 개발 및 배출 수질 특성에 관한 연구)

  • Lim, Chang-Min;Kwon, Hyun-Woo;Kim, Young-Min;Cho, Do-Young;Lee, Gun-Cheol
    • Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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    • 2022.11a
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    • pp.189-190
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    • 2022
  • Power plants that produce electricity through thermal power plants mainly store coal in outdoor storage yards. In particular, coal is directly exposed to rainwater during rainfall, including torrential rain. There is no separate drainage facility in the outdoor coal yard, and coal is simply stored on the ground. Accordingly, during rainfall, coal dust flows down by rainwater, and a large amount of rainwater that is not drained overflows the outdoor coal yard, overflowing the surrounding facilities and causing environmental pollution. Therefore, in this study, a drainage system was developed for the rapid drainage of an outdoor coal mine, and the quality of the water was evaluated when rainwater mixed with drainage characteristics and coal dust was discharged through the drainage system.

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Treatment of Abandoned Coal Mine Discharged Waters Using Lime Wastes

  • Park Joon-Hong;Kim Hee-Joung;Yang Jae-E.;Ok Yong-Sik;Lee Jai-Young;Jun Sang-Ho
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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    • 2005.10a
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    • pp.59-61
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    • 2005
  • In Korea, hundreds of abandoned and closed coal and metallic mines are present in the steep mountain valleys due to the depression of the mining industry since the late 1980s. From these mines, enormous amounts of coal waste were dumped on the slopes, which causes sedimentation and acid mine drainage (AMD) to be discharged directly into streams causing detrimental effects on soil and water environments. A limestone slurry by-product (lime cake) is produced from the Solvay process in manufacturing soda ash. It has very fine particles, low hydraulic conductivities ($10^{-8}{\sim}10^{-9}cm/sec$), high pH, high EC due to the presence of CaO, MgO and $CaCl_2$ as major components, and traces of heavy metals. Due to these properties, it has potential to be used as a neutralizer for acid-producing materials. A field plot experiment was used to test the application of lime cake for reclaiming coal wastes. Each plot was 20 x 5 m (L x W) in size on a 56% slope. Treatments included a control (waste only), calcite ($CaCO_3$), and lime cake. The lime requirement (LR) for the coal waste to pH 7.0 was determined and treatments consisted of adding 100%, 50%, and 25% of the LR. The lime cake and calcite were also applied in either a layer between the coal waste and topsoil or mixed into the topsoil and coal waste. Each plot was hydroseeded with grasses and planted with trees. In each plot, surface runoff and subsurface water were collected. The lime cake treatments increased the pH of coal waste from 3.5 to 6, and neutralized the pH of the runoff and leachate of the coal waste from 4.3 to 6.7.

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