• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.445-452
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• 2000

The effects of sludge and fertilizer application on germination and seedling growth of woody plants on heavy metal mine tailings were evaluated by greenhouse experiment. Two different mine tailings (Lead-zinc mine tailings from Kwangmyong, Kyonggi-do and tungsten mine tailings from Sangdong. Kangwon-do). four fertilizer treatments (N +P +K: 20, 40, 60, and 80 kg/m$^3$), and four sewage sludge treatments (5.5, 11, 22.5, and 45 Mg/m$^3$) were used in the experiment. Tested plants were Pinus densiflora, Larix leptolepis, Amorpha fruticosa, and Alnus hirsuta. There were three replicates for each treatment. In addition, vermiculite was used instead of mine tailings to determine the effect of physical amendments. Fifty seeds of a species were sown in a pot (upper diameter 13.5 cm, depth 10 cm) and seedling emergence were recorded daily for 30 days. The highest germination rate was 53% for all treatments. Germination rate of Larix leptolepis was lowest among the four species studied. One month later after seeding, seedlings were thinned and only 5 seedling were left in each pot, and fertilizer and sewage sludge were applied once again. Growth of seedlings were determined for 10 weeks since then. Most plants grew very poorly or died within 5 weeks on lead/zinc mine tailings from Kwangmyong. The analysis of heavy metal contents by the total dissolution method showed that heavy metals generally increased in the order of tungsten mine tailings from Sangdong < sewage sludge from Puchon < lead/zinc mine tailings from Kwangmyong. Growth of woody plants was improved significantly by the fertilizer treatments on tungsten mine tailings. In contrast. survival and growth of woody plants were not affected significantly by the sewage sludge treatment on both tailings. This study shows that fertilizer applied to established seeded stands may provide some benefits in terms of increased ground cover in the field. It is suggested that reclamation should be proceeded by the study of the physico-chemical and biological characteristics of mine tailings.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.479-484
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• 2007

Bacterial communities at 10 cm, 100 cm, and 200 cm depths in a 100-year-old lead-zinc tailing heap were evaluated by constructing 16S rRNA gene libraries. In total, 98 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified from 193 clones at a 3% sequence difference level. The OTU number and species richness decreased with the depth. Species composition was significantly different between the three libraries. Fifty-seven percent of the examined clones were Acidobacteria and 27% belonged to Proteobacteria. Other sequences included Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, Chlamydiae, Actinobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Nitrospira, and three unclassified OTUs. Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria were mainly distributed in the rhizosphere of naturally colonizing plants; however, Deltaproteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Chloroflexi tended to inhabit the deeper tailings (below the 100 cm-depth).

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.83-89
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• 2015

Soil samples collected in an area of Gahak Mine were investigated for the characterization of mineralogical and physicochemical properties of contaminants in soils. It is found that soils in the study area are contaminated by lead (Pb), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), in which their concentrations are 595.3 mg/kg, 184.9 mg/kg, 712.8 mg/kg, and 10.64 mg/kg, respectively. All the concentrations exceed the concern criteria of Korean standard. Upon distribution patterns of metals identified by the sequential extraction procedure, our results show that more than 50% of metals are found as a residual type, and 30% are accounted for the association of Fe/Mn oxides. Interestingly, XRD results show that minium (Pb₃O₄) and cuprite (Cu₂O) are identified in the soil samples, suggesting that the sources of the contaminants for Pb and Cu are these minerals. In SEM images, tens of µm of Pb oxides and Pb silicate-minerals are observed. We, therefore, note that the contamination of metals in the study area results from the direct influx and disturbance of tailings. Our findings indicate that the characterization of physicochemical and mineralogical properties of contaminated soils is a critical factor and plays an important role in optimizing recovery treatments of soils contaminated in mine development areas.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.5-11
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• 2010

Abandoned mines release acid mine drainage and cause the contamination of soil and crops around the mine area. The objective of current study is to evaluate effect of mine on the soil and crop contamination. Soils, water, and crops were collected and analyzed, and the heavy metal data were classified into types of the soil, types of crops, and distance from the minehead. Surface soils of the mine area were highly contaminated with heavy metals, especially with zinc and lead. Tailings and cultivated paddy soils were also highly contaminated. Heavy metal concentrations upon distance from minehead decrease steadily as the distance from the minehead increase. The correlation between heavy metals was extracted from soils and the content in the rice samples showed a positive relation for arsenic and cadmium but not a meaningful relation for other metals.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Mineral and Energy Resources Engineers
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.517-526
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• 2018

In order to remove pollutants from the soil in the Ka-hak mine site, this study investigates optimization of the acid washing conditions for the soil. The soil at the site is presumed to be contaminated by diffused heavy-metal-contaminated tailings. The major heavy metal pollutants in the soil are copper, lead, and zinc. Gravels larger than 5mm in size constitute approximately 38% of the soil, and these are the least polluted by heavy metals. On the other hand, it is difficult to reduce the concentration of heavy metals in fine soils, particularly those whose sizes are less than 0.075 mm. The results of the continuous process using a hydro-cyclone show that fine soil particles consisting of at least 20% of the raw soil must be separated before the chemical soil washing process in order to achieve reliable cleaning.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.41-47
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• 2014

Agricultural soils surrounding mine areas in South Korea are often contaminated with multiple metals such as Cd, Pb and Zn. It poses potential risks to plants, soil organisms, groundwater, and eventually human health. The aim of this study was to examine the changes in phytoavailability of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn after application with calcined eggshell (CES; 0, 1, 3, and 5% W/W) in an agricultural soil contaminated by mine tailings. The contents of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in soils were 8.79, 65.4, 1602, and $692mgkg^{-1}$ (aqua regia dissolution), respectively. The experiments were conducted with lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia) grown under greenhouse conditions during a 30-d period. $NH_4NO_3$ solution was used to examine the mobile fraction of these metals in soil. The application of CES dramatically increased soil pH and inorganic carbon content in soil due to CaO and $CaCO_3$ of CES. The increased soil pH decreased the mobile fraction of Cd, Pb, Zn: from 3.49 to < $0.01mgkg^{-1}$ for Cd, from 79.4 to $1.75mgkg^{-1}$ for Pb, and from 29.6 to $1.13mgkg^{-1}$ for Zn with increasing treatment of CES from 0 to 5%. In contrast, the mobile fraction of Cu was increased from 0.05 to $3.08mgkg^{-1}$, probably due to the formation of soluble $CuCO_3{^0}$ and Cu-organic complex. This changes in the mobile fraction resulted in a diminished uptake of Cd, Pb and Zn by lettuce and an increased uptake of Cu: from 4.19 to < $0.001mgkg^{-1}$ dry weight (DW) for Cd, from 0.78 to < $0.001mgkg^{-1}$ DW for Pb, and from 133 to $50.0mgkg^{-1}$ DW for Zn and conversely, from 3.79 up to $8.21kg^{-1}$ DW for Cu. The increased contents of Cu in lettuce shoots did not exceed the toxic level of $>25mgkg^{-1}$ DW. The mobile contents of these metals in soils showed a strong relationship with their contents in plant roots and shoots. These results showed that CES effectively reduced the phytoavailability of Cd, Pb, and Zn to lettuce but elevated that of Cu in consequence of the changed binding forms of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn in soils. Based on these conclusions, CES can be used as an effective immobilization agent for Cd, Pb and Zn in contaminated soils. However, the CES should be applied in restricted doses due to too high increased pH in soils.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.6-13
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• 2015

BACKGROUND: Most of the tailings have been left without any management in abandoned metalliferous mines and have become the main source of heavy metal contamination for agricultural soils and crops in the these areas. METHODS AND RESULTS: This experiment was carried out to investigate the assessment of the heavy metal contamination in paddy soils located on downstream of the closed metalliferous mine. The average total concentrations of cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), and arsenic (As) in paddy soils were 8.88, 56.7, 809, 754, and 37.9 mg/kg, respectively. Specially, the average concentrations of Cd, Pb and Zn were higher than those of warning criteria for soil contamination(4 mg/kg for Cd, 200 mg/kg for Pb, and 300 mg/kg for Zn) in agricultural soil established by Soil Environmental Conservation Act in Korea. The proportions of 0.1 M HCl extractable Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and As concentration to total concentration of these heavy metals in paddy soils were 27.7, 21.3, 35.1, 13.8 and 10.5%, respectively. The pollution index of these five metals in paddy soils ranged from 0.42 to 11.92. Also, the enrichment factor (EFc) of heavy metals in paddy soils were in the order as Cd>Pb>Zn>Cu>As, and the enrichment factor in paddy soil varied considerably among the sampling sites. The geoaccumulation index (Igeo) of heavy metals in soils were in the order as Cd>Pb>Zn>Cu>As, specially, the average geoaccumulation index of Cd, Pb, and Zn (Igeo 2.49~3.10) were relatively higher than that of other metals in paddy soils. CONCLUSION: Based on the pollution index, enrichment factor, and geoaccumulation index for heavy metal in paddy soils located on downstream of closed metalliferous mine, the main contaminants are mine waste materials and mine drainage including mine activity.