中國有色金屬學報(英文版)
Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China
| Vol. 20 No. 8 August 2010 |
metal sulfide mine at arid territory (BS mine, Western Australia)
XIE Xiang-li (謝襄漓)1, LI Yan-hong (李艷紅)1, WANG Fei(王 飛)1
（1. School of Earth Science, Gulin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China;
2. Key Laboratory of Geological Engineering Centre of Guangxi Province,
Gulin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China）
Abstract:The issues of acid mine drainage (AMD) and heavy metals contamination in the metal sulfide mine in the arid district were explored, through studying the acidification and the heavy metals distribution and evolution of groundwater in the black swan (BS) nickel sulfide mine (Western Australia). The groundwater samples were collected from the drilling holes situated in the vicinity of tailings storage facility (TSF) and in the background of the mine (away from TSF), respectively, and the pH and electric conductivity (Ec) were measured in site and the metal contents were analysed by ICP-MS and ICP-AES, quarterly in one hydrological year. The results disclose that the TSF groundwater is remarkably acidified (pHmean≈5, pHmin=3), and the average contents of heavy metals (Co, Cu, Zn, Cd) and Al, Mn are of 1−2 orders of magnitude higher in TSF groundwater than in background groundwater. It may be due to the percolation of tailings waste water from mill process, which leads the tailings to oxidize and the deep groundwater to acidify and contaminate with heavy metals. Besides, the heavy metals concentration in groundwater may be controlled by pH mainly.
Key words: nickel ore tailings; acid mine drainage; heavy metals; groundwater contamination
