Tailing dumps

The most dangerous in their long-term effects are the tailing dumps containing radio-active waste, which are also located in the vicinity of the Dnepr bed or near smaller rivers in the Dnepr catchment basin. Many tailing dump levees and toxic radio-active waste hoarder dams are in extremely poor condition. They can be easily destroyed by natural factors (minor earthquakes, floods, rise of subterranean waters) or by man-made acts (like a terrorist act with the use of explosives), with all ensuing consequences. 

Reconnaissance studies have shown that surface waters originating from waste rock and tailings dumps are typically characterized by low pH, high sulfate levels and variable metal contents. Consequently, the aim of this study is to investigate the nature of ground water interactions with... 

Boorman R. S. and Watson D. M. (1976) Chemical processes in abandoned sulfide tailings dumps and environmental... 

Elevated copper and zinc concentrations in soil adversely affect microbial biomass, activity, and composition of microbial communities in soil adjacent to copper smelters and copper-tailings dumps. 3,4 Nitrogen fixation was adversely impacted when heavy metal-contaminated sewage sludge was added to soils. 5 ... 

De la Iglesia R, Castro D, Ginocchio R, et al. Factors influencing the composition of bacterial communities found at abandoned copper-tailing dumps. Appl Microbiol 2006 100(3) 537-44. 

However, mine tailing dumps produce acid mine drainage that can seep into waterways and aquifers, with serious consequences for ecosystems. If underground mine tunnels collapse, this can cause subsidence of land surfaces. During actual mining operations, methane may be released into the air thereby contributing to the greenhouse effect. 

Impact assessment of tailing dumps of Kavalerovsky district on the hydrosphere using the physicochemical modeling method in a wide temperature range... 

ABSTRACT Results of modeling in a wide range of temperatures from 0 to 45°C allowed to show Eh-pH parameters of technogenic mineral formation systems in the tin-sulfide tailing dumps of Kavalerovsky District, to consider the process of crystallization of hypergene minerals from the micropore solutions, to find out their qualitative and quantitative ion eomposition, to show the role of hypergene processes in contamination of surface and ground water of the district and to make an assessment. 

For each of the five modeled tailing dumps the ratio host rock - sulfides was 90 10. To create models of sulfide oxidation in contact wi the host rock in three tailing dirnips of Chrustalnoye deposit we used the mineral composition of the tailings according to the Table 1. 

Modeling of sulfides oxidation in contact with the host rock at the tailing dump of Vysokogorskoye deposit was made with the mineral composition of the tailings shown in Table 1. 

Note TD - tailing dump, dash - mineral is absent. 

Considering that the oxidation of sulfides occurs for centuries (Zvereva, 2000), it should be noted that as long as all sulfide minerals in the tailings are not completely oxidized, tailing dumps are the potential source of hydrosphere pollution with toxic elements. 

Physicochemical modeling of sulfide oxidation in the tailing dumps of Kavalerovsky tin ore district allow to determine the conditions of hypergene minerals formation, to estimate the probable intensity of toxic elements removal and to quantify their impact on the hydrosphere. Physicochemical models of sulfide oxidation showed that hypergene minerals of Cu, Pb, Zn, Fe and As of the... 

Zvereva, VP, Pyatakov, A.D., Kostina, A.M., Frolov, K.R. Lysenko, A.I. 2012. Impact assessment of tin ore tailing dumps of Kavalerovsky region of the Far East on the hydrosphere with physicochemical modelling. 

Our data show that the total concentration of toxic metals in the snow cover was 0.095 mg/dm. The total supply of the water-dissoluhle phase of the heavy metals (HM) into the snow is 9.595 mg/m a season, and the element content in it is as follows (%) Cu - 54, Mn 36, Sh 3, Co and Cd - 2, Ph, Ni, and Cr - 1. About 11 kg of heavy metals are supplied to the zone of the tailing dump influence. The summary accumulation of carcinogenic elements in the snow cover for a winter season of 2004-2008 (in average) was 912.2 kg of the dissolved mineral matters and 117 tons of the suspended matters. In the snow cover the amounts exceeding the LPC are observed for the ions of ammonia, arsenic, copper, manganese, and other heavy metals (soluble form) (Krupskaya etal., 2010). 

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