An investigation into the potential uses of the waste aggregate stockpile at Belgard quarry.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ciara Bannon
Keyword(s):  
Acid Mine Drainage ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Coarse Aggregate ◽  
Mine Drainage ◽  
Tap Water ◽  
Dry Mass ◽  
Growth Media ◽  
Fine Material ◽  
Below Ground ◽  
Potential Use

<p>Quarries produce huge volumes of waste aggregate during the processing and screening of rock and Belgard quarry in west Dublin, Ireland, is no different. Operated by Roadstone since the 1970s, the waste stockpile at Belgard, largely composed of weaker limestones and mudstones, has grown to considerable size and finding a potential use for this material is proving challenging. Although various internal studies have identified some potential uses of the coarse aggregate chips, 45% of the stockpile consists of <6.3mm sized chips and fine material and any processing of the stockpile to obtain the coarse chips would be cost inhibitive due to the volume of the currently unusable fine material. This study therefore focused on identifying an application for the <6.3mm material. The potential for this material to act as a treatment for acid mine drainage was investigated by using water from the Avoca river and several of the metal contaminants significantly decreased in their concentration after filtering through a channel of <6.3mm screenings. The screenings were also observed to decrease the pH of both river and tap water. A subsidiary study on the potential fertilising effects of the <6.3mm material was conducted and the growth media consisting of 50% screenings, 50% compost, outperformed 100% compost when a comparison of grass height and both above and below ground dry mass was conducted. Several possible applications of the screenings were identified as part of this study however any environmental impacts would need to be fully understood before such use. </p>

scholarly journals Selection of organic materials potentially used to enhance bioremediation of acid mine drainage

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 2779-2789
Author(s):  
Fitri Arum Sekarjannah ◽  
M Mansur ◽  
Zaenal Abidin
Keyword(s):  
Acid Mine Drainage ◽  
Active Treatment ◽  
Organic Materials ◽  
Mine Drainage ◽  
Passive Treatment ◽  
Growth Media ◽  
Acid Mine ◽  
Wetland Treatment ◽  
Wetland System ◽  
Selection Of

Acid mine drainage (AMD), produced when sulfide minerals are subjected to oxygen and water, is one of the major issues in mining industries. Without proper management, AMD's release to the environment would cause seriously prolonged environmental and health issues, such as increases soil acidity and reduces water quality due to extremely low pH, high sulphate concentration, and heavy metal solubility. AMD treatments are divided into two categories, i.e., active treatment, conducted by applying a chemical to the AMD to neutralize pH and precipitate heavy metals; and passive treatment, which relies on biological and biochemical processes. The active treatment may provide an immediate effect, but costly and yet sustainable; meanwhile, passive treatment takes time to establish and to generate an effect, but it is more economical, sustainable, and environmentally friendly. The wetland system is an example of passive treatment. Therefore, this review focuses on passive treatments, especially the selection of organic materials used in constructed AMD wetland treatment. Organic materials play a central role in the wetland system, i.e., to chelate metal ions, remove sulphate from the solution, increase pH, and growth media for microbes, especially sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) and plants are grown in the system. Overall, organic materials determine the effectiveness of the wetland system to neutralize AMD passively and sustainably.

scholarly journals Aquatic Plants for Acid Mine Drainage Remediation in Simulated Wetland Systems

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 244
Author(s):  
Ali Munawar ◽  
Farkhruddin Okte Leitu ◽  
Hendri Bustamam
Keyword(s):  
Acid Mine Drainage ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Aquatic Plants ◽  
Aquatic Plant ◽  
Mine Drainage ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Growth Media ◽  
Organic Substrates ◽  
Acid Mine ◽  
Wetland Treatment

Aquatic plant is an important component of a constructed wetland system for treating acid mine drainage (AMD).This study was conducted to investigate the remediation effects of planting three aquatic plants species on AMDquality in simulated wetland systems. Simulated wetland systems were constructed using 10-L plastic containersas growth media comprising mixed-organic substrates and aquatic plant species as planting treatments. Thetreatments involved individual plantings with Fimbristilys hispidula (Vahl) Konth, Mariscus compactus (Retz) Druce,and Typha angustifolia L., and mixed-planting with a combined three-plant species. As the control was the unplantedmedia. The plants were continuously flooded with very acidic AMD collected from a mine pit in PT TambangBatubara Bukit Asam, South Sumatra. During the experiment, the acidity (pH), oxidation reduction potential (Eh),and electrical conductivity (EC) of the flooding AMD were measured after 24 hours of the flooding, and thenbiweekly until the plants entered their reproductive stage. To estimate Fe removed by plants, AMD samples weretaken from both planted and unplanted systems for total dissolved Fe analyses. The data revealed some remediationeffects of planting aquatic plants on AMD in the wetland treatment systems. The presence of plants in the wetlandsystem appeared to induce oxygen diffusion to surrounding roots, which might result in Fe precipitation on rootsurface. Although no differences among planting treatments, Fe removals by plants highly correlated (R2=0.92)with the production of plant biomass.

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