Geochemical audit of a historical tailings storage facility in Japan: Acid mine drainage formation, zinc migration and mitigation strategies

Carlito Baltazar Tabelin; Asuka Uyama; Shingo Tomiyama; Mylah Villacorte-Tabelin; Theerayut Phengsaart; Marthias Silwamba; Sanghee Jeon; Ilhwan Park; Takahiko Arima; Toshifumi Igarashi

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129453

Geochemical audit of a historical tailings storage facility in Japan: Acid mine drainage formation, zinc migration and mitigation strategies

J Hazard Mater. 2022 Sep 15:438:129453. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129453. Epub 2022 Jun 24.

Affiliations

¹ School of Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: c.tabelin@unsw.edu.au.
² Division of Sustainable Resources Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
³ Division of Sustainable Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
⁴ Developmental Biology Laboratory, PRISM, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Iligan City, Philippines; Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Mathematics, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Iligan City, Philippines.
⁵ Department of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
⁶ Department of Metallurgical Engineering, School of Mines, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia.

PMID: 35797786
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129453

Abstract

Historical tailings storage facilities (TSFs) are either abandoned or sparsely rehabilitated promoting acid mine drainage (AMD) formation and heavy metal release. To sustainably manage these sites, a geochemical audit coupled with numerical simulation to predict AMD flow paths and heavy metal migration are valuable. In this study, a 40-year-old TSF in Hokkaido, Japan was investigated. Tailings in this historical TSF contain pyrite (FeS₂) while its copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) contents were 1400-6440 mg/kg and 2800-22,300 mg/kg, respectively. Copper and Zn were also easily released in leaching tests because they are partitioned with the exchangeable phase (29% of Zn; 15% of Cu) and oxidizable fraction (25% of Zn; 33% of Cu). Kinetic modeling results attributed AMD formation to the interactions of pyrite and soluble phases in the tailings with oxygenated groundwater, which is supported by the sequential extraction and leaching results. Calibrations of groundwater/AMD flow and solute transport in the 2D reactive transport model were successfully done using hydraulic heads measured on-site and leaching results, respectively. The model forecasted the quality of AMD to deteriorate with time and AMD formation to continue for 1000 years. It also predicted ~24% AMD flux reduction, including lower Zn release with time when recharge reduction interventions are implemented on-site.

Keywords: Acid mine drainage; Heavy metals; Reactive transport modeling; Sustainability; Tailings storage facility.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Copper
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Japan
Metals, Heavy* / analysis
Mining
Zinc*

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Copper
Zinc