scholarly journals Environmental Impact Variability of Copper Tailing Dumps in Fushe Arrez (Northern Albania): The Role of Pyrite Separation during Flotation

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9643
Author(s):  
Giovanni Grieco ◽  
Agim Sinojmeri ◽  
Micol Bussolesi ◽  
Giuseppe Cocomazzi ◽  
Alessandro Cavallo
Keyword(s):  
Natural Waters ◽  
Mine Drainage ◽  
Massive Sulfide ◽  
Mining District ◽  
Flotation Process ◽  
Flotation Tailings ◽  
Mining Sites ◽  
Metal Contents ◽  
Pyrite Concentrate

Acid mine drainage and potentially toxic elements release are a major source of pollution in sulfide-rich mining sites. Pyrite is the most impacting mineral due to its high acidification potential when it reacts with water under oxidizing conditions. At the Fushe Arrez dressing plant in Northern Albania, a volcanic massive sulfide copper mining district, pyrite was in past separated, with a double flotation process, to produce a pyrite concentrate and relatively-pyrite-poor tailings. In the last twenty years single flotation has replaced the double flotation process and pyrite has been deposited in pyrite-rich tailings stacked separately from the old ones. The study of the solid tailing materials and natural waters flowing through the dumping area, together with leaching tests show that waters interacting with single flotation tailings are slightly more acidic and much higher in total metal contents than those interacting with double flotation tailings. Also, the metal distribution is different, with the former being higher in sulfide-hosted metals and the latter higher in gangue-hosted metals. It is thus suggested that separation of pyrite can play an important role in the sustainable mining of pyrite-rich ores, either for dumping high hazardous pyrite concentrate separately or for marketing it as a by-product. An implementation of studies for the industrial uses of pyrite is pivotal in this last case.

Integrated interrelationship of sewage sludges with absorbing complex of river Miass drainage area

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-444
Author(s):  
Y. A. Dzhenis ◽  
I. I. Tuber
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Natural Waters ◽  
Drainage Area ◽  
Sewage Sludges

Soil is a powerful and active absorber of many substances, assumes the pressure of industrial and municipal emissions and waste, and performs the important role of a buffer and a detoxicant. It accumulates heavy metals, pesticides, hydrocarbons and other chemical polluting substances and due to the soil absorbing complex (SAC) strongly captures and protects natural waters and the atmosphere from harm. Applying sewage sludges in our research will enable us to strengthen the capacity of SAC and to reduce the toxicity of heavy metals when they enter a reservoir via a drain from anthropogenically polluted territory.

The role of Fe(II) species on the oxidation of Fe(II) in natural waters in the presence of O2 and H2O2

2006 ◽  
Vol 99 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 70-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.M. Santana-Casiano ◽  
M. González-Dávila ◽  
F.J. Millero
Keyword(s):  
Natural Waters

Spreading of pollutants from alkaline mine drainage. Rodalquilar mining district (SE Spain)

2012 ◽  
Vol 106 ◽  
pp. 69-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. González ◽  
I. García ◽  
F. del Moral ◽  
S. de Haro ◽  
J.A. Sánchez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mine Drainage ◽  
Mining District ◽  
Se Spain ◽  
Alkaline Mine Drainage

scholarly journals Assessment of the Challenges in Policy Implementation in the Small Scale Gold Mining Sector in Ghana – A Case Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Arroja Eshun ◽  
E. Okyere
Keyword(s):  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Gold Mining ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Mining District ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Mining Sector ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Mining Sites ◽  
Adequate Knowledge ◽  
Acquisition Processes

In recent times, stakeholders in the mining sector have expressed concerns about the environmental degradation and the social impacts of uncontrolled Small Scale Mining (SSM) activities in Ghana despite the existence of legislative instruments that define the procedures required for the acquisition of licences and operations of SSM activities in the country. This paper assesses the challenges in policy implementation in the small scale gold mining sector of Ghana by reviewing policies on regularisation and environmental management. It further identifies challenges faced by small scale mining operators in adhering to laid down policies for the smooth operation of the sector and furthermore assesses the views of some principal stakeholders on the benefits and challenges of small scale mining using the Dunkwa mining district as a test case. The methods employed include: field visits to some  small scale mining sites within the Dunkwa mining district; interviews and questionnaire administration; and statistical and content analysis of data. The study reveals the following factors, among others, to have contributed largely to the difficulty in regularisation, environmental and social challenges that have plagued the SSM sector: low level of education of majority of miners; bureaucracies and centralisation of licence acquisition processes; lack of sources of finance for SSM projects; lack of geological information on mineable areas; and lack of adequate knowledge of the laws and regulations on mining and environment. In addressing the challenges the following recommendations are made: decentralisation of the regularisation processes to simplify licence acquisition; adequate geological investigations should be undertaken on SSM blocked-out areas to reduce the try and error mining approach adopted by miners; and continuous education and training of miners on good mining and environmental practices. Keywords: Small Scale Mining, Mineral Policies, Environmental Impact, Regularisation, Challenges

scholarly journals Comparison of Acid Mine Drainage Microbial Communities in Physically and Geochemically Distinct Ecosystems

2000 ◽  
Vol 66 (11) ◽  
pp. 4962-4971 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip L. Bond ◽  
Greg K. Druschel ◽  
Jillian F. Banfield
Keyword(s):  
Acid Mine Drainage ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Mine Drainage ◽  
Acid Leaching ◽  
Massive Sulfide ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Oligonucleotide Probes ◽  
Acid Mine ◽  
Ore Body ◽  
A Site

ABSTRACT This study presents population analyses of microbial communities inhabiting a site of extreme acid mine drainage (AMD) production. The site is the inactive underground Richmond mine at Iron Mountain, Calif., where the weathering of a massive sulfide ore body (mostly pyrite) produces solutions with pHs of ∼0.5 to ∼1.0. Here we used a suite of oligonucleotide probes, designed from molecular data recently acquired from the site, to analyze a number of microbial environments by fluorescent in situ hybridization. Microbial-community analyses were correlated with geochemical and mineralogical data from those environments. The environments investigated were within the ore body and thus at the site of pyrite dissolution, as opposed to environments that occur downstream of the dissolution. Few organism types, as defined by the specificities of the oligonucleotide probes, dominated the microbial communities. The majority of the dominant organisms detected were newly discovered or organisms only recently associated with acid-leaching environments. “Ferroplasma” spp. were detected in many of the communities and were particularly dominant in environments of lowest pH and highest ionic strength.Leptospirillum spp. were also detected in many slime and pyrite-dominated environments. In samples of an unusual subaerial slime, a new uncultured Leptospirillum sp. dominated.Sulfobacillus spp. were detected as a prominent inhabitant in warmer (∼43°C) environments. The information gathered here is critical for determining organisms important to AMD production at Iron Mountain and for directing future studies of this process. The findings presented here also have relevance to the microbiology of industrial bioleaching and to the understanding of geochemical iron and sulfur cycles.

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