The formation of environmentally toxic acidic waste from mining activities is a world-wide problem. Neutralization of this waste can be accomplished by physicochemical and/or biological means. In this short-term study, synthetic acid mine drainage was added to sandfilled mesocosms containing silica-dominated (quartz) sand. Glucose was added as a carbon source for microbial iron and/or sulphate ...

The Boundary Element Method has been applied to calculate stress distribution and stability of underground mines for disposal of chemical waste. A case similar to the Stripa mine in Sweden has been considered. The rock mass was granite, with major fracture zones represented by three families of planes mutually orthogonal and 100 meters distant from each other. The pre and post processor GiD [3]...

We investigated the possibility of use of Tanacetum vulgare (tansy) as an ecological indicator of metal concentration in a naturally colonized open-pit lignite mine in Bełchatów (Poland). Tanacetum vulgare is the only species growing abundantly and spontaneously in the lignite mine waste dumps. Metal concentrations in roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and soil were measured in dump sites differing...

There are many reasons for the need to assess rates and quantities of evaporation or evapotranspiration from natural soil surfaces, the surfaces of deposits of mine or industrial waste, or soil-covered waste surfaces. These include assessing water balances for nearsurface soil strata, landfills, tailings dams and waste dumps and suitable deposition or application intervals for hydraulic fill ta...

We describe a three step process for the removal of uranium (U) from dilute waste waters. Step one involves the sequestration of U on, in, and around aquatic plants such as algae. Cell wall ligands efficiently remove U(VI) from waste water. Growing algae continuously renew the cellular surface area. Step 2 is the removal of U-algal particulates from the water column to the sediments. Step 3 inv...

Acid and metalliferous drainage (AMD) is broadly accepted to be a major global environmental problem facing the mining industry, requiring expensive management and mitigation. A series of laboratory-scale kinetic leach column (KLC) experiments, using both synthetic and natural mine wastes, were carried out to test the efficacy of our pyrite passivation strategy (developed from previous research...

The open pit mine production scheduling (OPMPS) problem seeks to determine when, if ever, to extract each notional, three-dimensional block of ore and/or waste in a deposit and what to do with each, e.g., send it to a particular processing plant or to the waste dump. This scheduling model maximizes net present value subject to spatial precedence constraints, and resource capacities. Certain min...

Predicting the fate of chemicals that leach from waste deposits and deciphering their transport in the invisible subsoil must rely on 1) understanding the pattern of groundwater flowlines and travel times, 2) insight in the chemical reactions which retard the solutes, and 3) the quality of the database of the geochemical model. Inhomogeneities in an aquifer can be deduced from tritium/helium ag...

Soil environmental quality is the capacity of a soil to function, within ecosystem and land use boundaries, to sustain biological productivity, maintain environmental quality, and promote plant, animal and human health'. In the long-term, vegetative rehabilitation of mining wastes aims at, as far as possible, the proper ecological integration of the reclaimed area into the surrounding landscape...

This is a study of the impact of cyanide from mining waste on riparian communities, primarily vegetation, near Whitewood Creek, downstream from Homestake Gold Mine in Lead, South Dakota. Cyanide is used in gold processing, and the effluent, until fairly recently, was discharged directly into Gold Run Creek which empties into Whitewood Creek. Vegetation, soil, and water were collected from four ...