• Resources Recycling
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.3-8
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• 2012

In the points of the environmental conservation and the recirculating utilization of limited resources, it is very important to recover valuable metals like Au, Ag, Pd, Cu, Sn, Ni, Co, and Li used as industrial raw materials from urban ores. From now, many processes have been developed for recovering the valuable metals contained in urban ores and some of them have been operated commercially. In the paper, pyrometallurgical processes developed for reclaiming valuable metals from urban ores will be briefly introduced.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.211-217
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• 2016

There have been found mine tailings, wastes, and mining drainage scattered in the area of Nakdong River due to the improper maintenance of the abandoned mines. These contaminants can flow into rivers during the heavy rain periods in summer. Along the study area beginning Seokpo-myeon, Bonghwa-gun of Gyeongsangbuk-do untill Dosan-myeon, Andong-si, there are one hundred five mines including sixty metalliferous mines and forty-five nonmetal mines, which can adversely affect the adjacent rivers. To verify the contamination, we collected sediments, seepage water and surface water for a year both in rainy season and dry season. This study found that sediments, containing high concentrations of heavy metals caused by mining activities, are dispersed throughout the entire river basin (68 sample points with pollution index, based on the concentration of trace element, (PI) >10 among the total of 101 samples). The results of river water analysis indicated the increased concentrations of arsenic and cadmium at branches from Seungbu, Sambo, Okbang and Janggun mine, which concerns that the river water may be contaminated by mining drainage and tailing sediments. However, it is difficult to sort out the exact sources of contamination in sediments and waters only by using the chemical compositions. Thus the control of mining pollution is challenging. To prevent water from being contaminated by mining activities, we should be able to divide inflow rates from each origin of the mines. Therefore, there should be a continued study about how to trace the source of contaminants from mining activities by analyzing stable isotopes.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.79-86
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• 2015

Korean territories has formed about 70% of mountainous areas that have acidified serious level to average pH 4-5. There are a number of abandoned metal mines about 1,000 in Korea. However, mine tailings and waste rock included heavy metals are exposed to long-term environment without prevention facility or treatment system. Thus, ongoing management and monitoring of soil environment are required. Most of abandoned mine scattered in forest areas of slopes. Soil erosion due to continuous rainfall in the slopy areas can cause the secondary pollution by the influence eutrophication of water system and the productivity loss of the plant. Therefore, this study would like to estimate pH leaching rate by artificial rainfall using waste neutralization-agent in lysimeter. Moreover, the potentially of secondary pollution related to precipitation is figured out through the experiments, and the optimal planting methods would examinate after neutralizing treatment in soil. Experiments composed three kinds of lysimeter; lysimeter 1 had filled only acidic soil, lysimeter 2 had neutralized soil, and lysimeter 3 had planting plants after neutralized soil. In the results, lysimeter 2 showed the lowest pH leaching, and there is not specific relativity with pH leaching of the seasonal characteristics.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.403-411
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• 2012

In recent, the using of the hydraulic filling method has increased on the underground reinforcement of the abandoned mine in Korea, however it is the lack of research on the efficient filling method. In this study, tank model tests and field tests were conducted for development of tip device for filling efficiency improvements on the hydraulic filling method. In tank model experiments, the filling efficiency was evaluated according to the form and angle of the nozzle on tip device in the same condition. Then tip device model designed by tank model tests was applied to the field experiment. As a result, the amount of filling of nozzle $90^{\circ}$ tube is increased by approximately 18% compared to the common vertical injection pipe. The angle of repose was $30.82^{\circ}$. Filling hole spacing in the field is usually designed from 5m up to 10m assumed to be $40^{\circ}$ of the angle of repose. According to the results of this study, it is possible that the filling hole spacing expands at least 10m up to 15m applied to be $30^{\circ}{\sim}35^{\circ}$ of the angle of repose. Therefore, it is expected to be economical and efficient mine filling.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.41-54
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• 2016

The production of high quality seedlings is a very important phase in silvicultural systems for successful reforestation or restoration. The purpose of this study was to measure both growth performances and nutrient responses of Fraxinus rhynchophylla and Pinus densiflora seedlings, which are commercially planted in Korea, according to soil improvement treatments. We applied 8 types of soil improvements: control with no treatment, compost B and compost Y as organic materials, vermiculite, perlite, two level of zeolite, and mix of vermiculite, perlite, and zeolite as inorganic materials in a permanent national nursery. Only compost B treatment significantly increased soil pH, organic matter, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, exchangeable potassium and calcium at the 0-10 cm soil depth. The growth of F. rhynchophylla and P. densiflora was the highest at the compost B treatment and the lowest at the vermiculate treatment. Compost B treatment allocated more carbon to aboveground than belowground by 39%, especially to foliage. On the vector diagnosis, there was 'shortage' on compost B treatment because of all increases of N contents, N concentrations, and growth and 'over accumulation' on vermiculite treatment because of more N uptake compared with dry weight increase. This study suggested optimal use of soil improvements is very important to improve soil quality in a permanently used nursery.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.18-26
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• 2017

In a previous study, we assessed the feasibility of ferric chloride ($FeCl_3$) as a washing agent in bench-scale in-situ soil washing to remove Pb from agricultural paddy soil. Herein is a subsequent study to evaluate variations in soil properties after $FeCl_3$ soil washing in terms of fractionation and bioavailability of Pb and chemical properties of the soil. After soil washing, the soil pH decreased from 4.8 to 2.6 and the exchangeable fractions of Pb in the soil increased from 12 mg/kg to 15 mg/kg. Variations in the Pb fractionation of the soil increased Pb bioavailability by almost three-fold; however,the base saturation decreased by 75%. The concentrations of total nitrogen and available phosphate were similar before and after soil washing. The available silicate concentration significantly increased after soil washing but was two times lower than that of soil washed with HCl, which is widely used as a washing agent. This indicates that $FeCl_3$ can be an acceptable washing agent that protects the soil clay structure. The results suggest that soil amendment, such as liming, is needed to recover soil pH, reduce mobility of Pb, and provide exchangeable bases of Ca, Mg, and K as essential elements for the healthy growth of rice plants in reused soil that has been washed.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.81-86
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• 2016

Heavy metal pollution in agricultural fields at the abandoned metal mines has been serious problems in Korea. In order to manage heavy metal pollution in surface water and soil, numerous remediation strategies have been established. Therefore, main purpose of this research was to examine feasibility of ecological toxicity assessment for establishing management strategy in heavy metal polluted agricultural fields. Heavy metal concentration in surface water and soil was monitored along with ecotoxicity experiment with Daphnia magna and Eisenia fetida. Result showed that high toxicity was observed in heavily polluted agricultural field with heavy metals. In case of mortality of Daphnia magna (85%) and Eisenia fetida (6.7%), the highest ratio was observed when heavy metal concentration in surface and soil was high. Calculated ecotoxicity index (EI) ranged 0.06-0.30 and the highest EI was observed in heavily polluted sites among 5 abandoned metal mines. Overall, ecological toxicity assessment is necessary to evaluate heavy metal pollution in agricultural fields near at the abandoned metal mines along with chemical concentration analysis.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.655-661
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• 2016

Relationships between saturated conductivity (Ks) and separate contents were evaluated from 44 soil series of arable lands: 18 for paddy fields and 26 for upland crop fields. Saturated hydraulic conductivities of A, B, and C horizons were determined with tension infiltrometer and Guelph permeameter in situ. Sand, silt, clay, and organic matter content of each horizon were analyzed. Based on correlation analysis, sand separate had a positive relationship with Ks for both paddy (r=0.27, p=0.017) and upland fields (r=0.24. p=0.030). Clay content had a negative relationship with Ks for paddy soils (r=-0.32, p=0.005) while significant correlation between them was not found for upland crop fields (r=-0.20, p=0.07). Organic matter content showed a positive relationship with Ks only for upland crop fields (r=0.33, p=0.002). Due to low correlation coefficients between separate contents and Ks, performance of pedotransfer functions was not enough to estimate Ks. It implies that hydraulic properties of arable lands were affected by other factors rather than particle characteristics. Platy structure and plow pan were suggested to limit Ks of paddy fields. Soil compaction and diversity of parent materials were proposed to influence Ks of upland crop fields. It suggests that genetic processes and artificial managements should be included in pedotransfer functions to estimate hydraulic properties appropriately.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.21-30
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• 2015

Induced seismicity has been observed in the relation with lots of anthropogenic influence and at variety of geological conditions over the last several decades. This paper reviews those induced earthquakes and compares with each other as well as with natural tectonic earthquakes. Hydraulic fracturing is commonly used to enhance the permeability through new cracks in the rock formation. The process triggers the induced seismicity, which can give crucial information on the fracture network and oil/gas migration. In the similar way, unintentionally induced events during the production procedure of the field, dam reservoir, minig activity, or wastewater injection can be used to give insight into various hydrodynamic processes and changes of reservoir properties at a various scales. The general conclusion summarizes the uncertainty or limitations of knowledge up to date and presents some issues to be dealt with in the future research.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.63-69
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• 2013

This paper discusses important environmental issues that must be considered during shale gas development. Shale gas has been attracting many attention as the next key energy resource with its large abundance through easily accessible production fields, and its lower carbon dioxide & sulfur dioxide emission profile upon combustion when compared to the conventional oil and natural gas resources. Successful development of a shale gas field requires the use of hydraulic fracturing to recover hydrocarbon through the very tight shale formation, which has been frequently associated with environmental contamination issue of water, soil, and atmosphere. Therefore, environmental issues and their solution to minimize environmental impact should be considered for successful development of shale play in a future.