• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 1998.11a
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• pp.71-75
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• 1998

The objective of this study is to investigate geochemical characteristics of mine wastes including tailings in various abandoned mines in Korea. Tailings and wastes were sampled in and around 39 metalliferous mines, and analysed heavy metal concentrations including Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn extracted by 0.1N HCl and aqua regia by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. Measurements of paste pH and lime requirement were carried out to examine a general geochemical characteristics of the materials. Lots of mine wastes were characterized by very low pH values of 2 to 4 and high lime requirement to control neutralization of the wastes. In addition, elevated levels of heavy metals were found in various mine wastes extracted by both 0.lN HCl and aqua regia. Because the mine wastes can be dispersed into the downstream by clastic movement and wind-blow, it is necessary to control the materials with a proper method for their reclamation.

• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.174-181
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• 2021

This study analyzed the groundwater quality characteristics according to the main source of pollution and quarter (season) by using data from the pollution exclusive monitoring network in the Gyeongsangnam-do area for five years (2013-2017). The main source of pollution was the industrial complex areas, waste mines, and sewage treatment facilities. The analysis items were field measurement items (water temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, oxide reduction potential), positive ions, and negative ions. Water temperature and pH did not vary significantly according to the main source of pollution. In industrial complex areas, the value of electrical conductivity was the highest, and dissolved oxygen value was the lowest. The mean concentration of positive and negative ions was the largest in industrial complex areas, followed by sewage treatment facilities and waste mines. It was shown that the concentration of sodium ion was the highest in industrial complex areas and calcium ion in waste mines and sewage treatment facilities. The concentration of bicarbonate ion was the highest in all main sources of pollution. Water temperature, pH, and concentrations of cations and anions did not vary significantly from quarter to quarter. Of the water quality types, the Na-HCO₃ type accounted for the highest proportion, but the Na-Cl type, which has a high possibility of external contamination, accounted for about 20% of the total data in the pollution exclusive monitoring network.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.47-57
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• 2006

This study was carried out to select the Eco-tree for successful phytoremediation of abandoned metalliferous mines. We examined vegetation and heavy metal concentrations of woody plants in abandoned mining areas, and also conducted seed germination and seedling growth experiment on contaminated soils from Gahak and Geumjeong mines. Pinus densiflora, Robinia pseudoacacia, Lespedeza bicolor and Alnus japonica showed high frequency in the survey areas and had high heavy metal concentrations compared to other species. Heavy metal concentrations were higher in roots than in leaves and stems. The seed germination rate was in the order of P. densiflora, L. bicolor, R. pseudoacacia, and Alnus japonica from the incubactor and greenhouse experiment. In the incubator experiment germination rate was highest in the control soil for P. densiflora and A. japonica. Germination rate of P. densiflora was highest on the 100% contaminated soil for Gahak mine while germination rate decreased with increased percentage of contaminated soil for Geumjeong mine. In the greenhouse experiment germination rate was lowest on the 40% contaminated soil for Gahak mine while germination rate was lowest on the 20% contaminated soil for Geumjeong mine and increased with increased percentage of contaminated soil. Shoot growth was highest for L. bicolor while root growth was highest for R. pseudoacacia except for 20% contaminated soil in Geumjeong mine.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.45-53
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• 2009

This study concerned remediation of heavy metal contaminated farmland soils near abandoned mine, using stabilization method, with particular emphasis on the remediating the soils contaminated with multi-elements. In this study, stabilizing heavy metals based on 'In-situ chemical fixation' has been applied to the soil collected from an abandoned mine in Korea, using column test, with various stabilizing agents, including $FeSO_4$, $KMnO_4$, sludge (collected from coal mine drainage treatment pond), zero-valent iron (ZVI), zeolite and $CaCO_3$. Sixty five-days operation of the flow-through columns yield $FeSO_4\;+\;KMnO_4$ and zeolite are efficient on reducing As leaching from the soil. ZVI and sludge are reducing the leaching of Cu. Although $FeSO_4\;+\;KMnO_4$ seem to be efficient for most heavy metals, high pH in the initial stage of test enabled high leaching of the heavy metals, whereas fixation of the heavy metals maintain throughout the rest of the test period, with increasing pH up to around 6. Addition of some alkaline agent may inhibit the low pH during the application. The column test was also run as two set: one set incubated with deionized water for 72 hours prior to starting the test, and the other without incubation. The incubated set demonstrated better stabilizing efficiency, indicating the potential optimized operation method.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.411-429
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• 2018

Daeyoung mine (also called "Daema mine") produced gold and silver from mainly gold- and silver-bearing quartz veins. The mine tailings are a waste hazard, but most of the tailings were swept away or dispersed throughout the area around the mine long before the tailing dump areas were transformed into agricultural land. Soil liner and protection facilities, such as retaining walls, were constructed in the mine area to prevent the loss of tailings. The content of the tailings is 3,424.41~3,803.61 mg/kg, which exceeds the safety standard by a factor of 45. In addition, contamination was detected near agricultural areas and in the sediments in downstream drainage channels. A high level of As contamination was concentrated near the waste tailings yard; comparaable levels were detected in agricultural areas close to streams that ran through the waste dump yard, whereas the levels were much lower in areas far from the streams. The contamination in stream sediments showed a gradual decrease with distance from the mine waste yard. Based on these contamination patterns, we concluded that there are two main paths that affect the spread of contaminants: (1) loss of mine waste, and (2) the introduction of mine waste into agricultural areas by floods after transportation by streams. The agricultural areas contaminated by mass inflow of mine waste can act as contamination sources themselves, affecting other agricultural areas through the diffusion of contaminants. At present, although the measured effect in minimal, sediments in streams are contaminated by exposed mine waste and surface liners. It is possible for contaminants to diffuse or spread into nearby areas if heavy elements trapped in soil grains in contaminated agricultural areas leach out as soil solution or contaminant particles during diffusion into the water supply.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.31-38
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• 1997

Temporal and spatial comparisons of acid mine drainage contaminated waters are difficult because of the complex physico-chemical nature of the pollutant. In the present study, an acid mine drainage index has been developed and evaluated for the assessment of surface waters. AMD index is calculated using a modified arithmetic weighted index using seven parameters which are most indicative of AMD contamination, i. e. pH value, sulphate, iron, zinc, aluminum, copper and manganese. Weighting is used to express the relative indicator value of each parameter. The proposed AMD index is used to quantify contamination from acid mine drainage over ten different old mine sites and assess the degree of impact on surface on surface waters. As a result of AMD evaluation, the Sukbong Mine located near the Moonkyung province showed lowest AMD value indicating the worst acid mine drainage quality. In overall, Youngdong mine sites showed higher contaimination compared to the other mine sites including Youngsuh, Choongbu, Suhbu and Nambu area.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.25-34
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• 1999

This geochemical study was carried out to find out the distribution of metals and cyanide in the soils around the Keum-Jung abandoned mine. Chemical analysis showed that extractable As contents in the soils near the mine exceeded 15mg/kg, Korean standard of soil contamination for farm land. The Results suggests that As contamination is due to input of tailings in the soils. According to total decomposition of tailings, As was highly concentrated in tailings. The water in a tailings impoundment was changed to acidic and contaminated by metals and sulfate which were released through oxidation of impoundment. Acid mine drainage from the tailings impoundment distribution channels directed to the paddy soils. The proper measures are required to prevent contamination of the soil and water in the vicinity of the Keum-Jung mine.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2010

Field study to find appropriate species for phytoremediation and phytomonitoring with higher plants was carried out at four abandoned metalliferous mines. In order to know the tolerant degree of plant resources collected at heavy metal polluted sites, soil and plants were sampled at same sites and metal concentrations were determined. Most serious heavy metal polluted in the sites was As that showed range from 29.1 to 1372.2 mg $kg^{-1}$ in investigated area. The dominant species were Oenothera biennis, Commelina communis, Persicaria senticosa, Conyza annuus, Artemisia princeps, and Erigeron canadensis. These species were predominant species that were proliferated in any survey area. Compared with other sites, vegetational characteristics of Dal-Seong, a mine site abandoned early in 1973, showed higher diversity index and lower dominance index. Distributions of weed species according to life cycle indicated that the proportions of perennial plants were lowered in every investigated site. Although the polluted areas were distant from each other, similarity indices among these vegetation were relatively similar. These results means the vegetations of abandoned mine areas were beginning stage of vegetational succession, and the vegetations were adversely affected by disturbance with heavy-metals and lack of water in soil.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.265-276
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• 2017

Heavy metals leaching from closed mines have been causing severe environmental problems in nearby soil ecosystems. Mine reclamation in Korea has been recently implemented based on the heavy metal immobilization (a.k.a., stabilization). Since the immobilization temporarily fixes the heavy metals to the soil matrix, the potential risk of heavy metal leaching still exists. Therefore the appropriate monitoring and the related policies are required to safeguard the soils, where all the cultivations occur. The current monitoring methods are based on either heavy metal concentration or simple toxicity test. Those methods, however, are fragmented and hence it is difficult to evaluate the site in an integrated manner. In this study, as the integrated approach, ecological functional state evaluation with a multivariate statistical tool was employed targeting physiochemical soil properties, heavy metal concentrations, microbial enzymatic activity, and arsenic respiratory reductase gene quantity. Total 60 soil samples obtained from three mines (Pungjeong, Jeomdong, Seosung) were analyzed. As a result, the stabilized layer soil and lower layer soil have shown the similar pattern in Pungjeong mine. In contrast, Jeomdong and Seosung mine have shown the similarity between the stabilized layer soil and the cover layer soil, indicating the possible contamination of the cover layer soil.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.100-106
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• 2007

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of $(NH_4)_2HPO_4$, $Na_2HPO_4{\cdot}12H_2O$, $CaHPO_4{\cdot}2H_2O$, $Ca(H_2PO_4)_2{\cdot}H_2O$ and $H_3PO_4$ for the stabilization of soils contaminated with multi-metals containing Pb, Cd and As. The application rate of stabilizers to soils was determined based on $PO_4/Pb_{total}$ molar ratio of 0.5, 1, 2, 4. The results of Korea Standard Test and TCLP (EPA Method 1311) showed the reduction of metal leachabilities below the regulatory limits for Pb and Cd when $H_3PO_4$ and $Ca(H_2PO_4)_2{\cdot}H_2O$ were applied. However, stabilization efficiency for Cd was low and in case of As leaching concentration increased rather. It is considered that $PO_4$ reacted effectively $Pb^{2+}$ due to leaching Pb under low pH condition created by adding $H_3PO_4$. Accordingly Pb was stabilized by dissolution and precipitation of hydroxypyromorphite. From the change of metals fraction using sequential extraction procedure when $H_3PO_4$ applied as a stabilizer, we confirmed that residual fraction increased more than 60% and this result was accorded with XRD analysis that detected only hydroxypyromorphite peak in $H_3PO_4$.