• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.81-90
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• 2010

In this study, primary investigation for evaluation of abandoned metal mine effect on watershed has been done. 64 abandoned mines have been selected for primary investigation through literature and field survey. 216 soil and 90 water samples were collected and metal pollution concentrations were analyzed. 24 mines have mine water in the pits and acid water below pH 5 was not observed. Soils from 35 mines were over the soil basis of concern and 16 mines were over the soil basis of action. Arsenic average concentration was 188 times of average concentration of the natural background. Drinking water samples from 3 mines were over the drinking water standard and surface water samples from 12 mines were over the river water standard. Integrated pollution index, which was resulted from the integration of field survey, soil and water pollution concentration, showed that, abandoned metal mines had affected on watershed greatly in the order of Samgeum, Daedeok, Cheongdalgeum, Heungsin, Yeongdae and Myeongbong mines.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.101-110
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• 1998

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the source of U anormaly formed in stream water of the drainage system around the Shinbo talc mine area based on the hydrochemical properties of water masses including surface water and groundwater. The hydrochemical properties of water masses in the Shinbo talc mine area are divide into three types; Type I : $Ca(Mg)SO_4$ type with high U content as shown in the stream water flowout from the mine, Type II : $Ca(HCO_3)_2$ type with high U content as in deep groundwater, Type III : $Ca(HCO_3)_2$, type with low U content as in the other stream water and shallow groundwater. It is necessary to emphasize that in deducing the uranium source, a distinct discrimination between type I and type II is showed in their hydrothermal properties in spite of commonly having a high uranium content, which in turn means the occurrence of a different water-rock interaction processes between both type. All evidences suggest that type II groundwater have acted as a primary media in the transport of uranium and that, as the groundwater flows through the talc mineralization zone, water composition of type II was transformed into that of type I water as the results of a secondary water rock interaction process, caused by imposition of new mineralogically controlled thermodynamic constraints. Consequently, in the viewpoint of hydrochemical exploration, the investigation of the hydrologic circulation system and the hydrogeologic properties for the aquifer of type II groundwater shall be done first of all and will provide a crucial clue on tracing the uranium mineralization zone occurred in the Shinbo talc mine area.

• Journal of the Korean Professional Engineers Association
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.47-56
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• 2012

According to the policy of coal industry promotion, a lot of mines were abandoned. As the abandoned mines were neglected, environmental pollution such as settlement of ground, ground-water run-off, landscape damage etc were accompanied around abandoned mines. The government was promoting countermeasures of environmental contamination but most of the Countermeasures were aimed at protecting the ecological system not infrastructure. For this reason, abandoned mines impact on infrastructure has been relatively neglected. Most mines are located in mountainous so there is a tunnel among typical infrastructure around abandoned mines. In this paper, the effect of Mine drainage, Typical pollution source of abandoned mine, was introduced into the using tunnel focusing on the types and examples.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.231-237
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• 2011

An active apatite drainage system has been developed at the Goro abandoned mine, comprising a grit cell, a reaction cell, and a precipitation pond. Leachate from an abandoned adit and tailing ponds is collected in a pipeline and is transported to the apatite drainage system under the influence of the hydraulic gradient. The results of a laboratory experiment performed in 2004 indicate that the reaction cell requires 38.8 ton/year of apatite and that precipitate will have to be removed from the precipitation pond every 3 months. The purpose of this study is to evaluate a laboratory test on the efficiency of limestone and apatite in removing arsenic from ARD (acid rock drainage), and to evaluate the suitability of materials for use as a precipitant for the leachate treatment disposal system. The laboratory tests show that the arsenic removal ratios of limestone and apatite are 67.4%-98.3%, and the arsenic removal ratio of apatite is inversely proportional to its grain size. The arsenic compounds are assumed to be Johnbaumnite and Ca-arsenic hydrate. Therefore, apatite and phosphorous limestone can be used as a precipitant for the removal of arsenic, although it is difficult to remove arsenic from ARD when it occurs in low concentrations.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.297-310
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• 1998

Geochemical characteristics of environmental toxic elements at the Narim mine area were investigated on the basis of major, minor, rare earth element geochemistry and mineralogy. Ratios of $Al_2O_3/Na_2O$ and $K_2O/Na_2O$ in soils and sediments range from 11.57 to 22.21 and from 1.86 to 3.93, and are partly negative and positive correlation against $SiO_2/Al_2O_3$ (3.41 to 4.78), respectively. These suggested that sediment source of host granitic gneiss could be due to rocks of high grade metamorphism originated by sedimentary rocks. Characteristics of some trace and rare earth elements of V/Ni (0.33 to 1.95), Ni/Co (2.00 to 6.50), Zr/Hf (11.27 to 53.10), La/Ce (0.44 to 0.55), Th/Yb (4.07 to 7.14), La/Th (2.35 to 3.93), $La_N/Yb_N$ (6.58 to 13.67), Co/Th (0.63 to 2.68), La/Sc (3.29 to 5.94) and Sc/Th (0.49 to 1.00) are revealed a narrow range and homogeneous compositions may be explained by simple source lithology. Major elements in all samples are enriched $Al_2O_3$, MgO, $TiO_2$ and LOI, especially $Fe_2O_3$ (mean=7.36 wt.%) in sediments than the composition of host granitic gneiss. The average enrichment indices of major and rare earth elements from the mining drainage are 2.05 and 2.91 of the sediments and are 2.02 and 2.60 of the soils, normalizing by composition of host granitic gneiss, respectively. Average composition (ppm) of minor and/or environmental toxic elements in sediments and soils are Ag=14 and 1, As=199 and 14, Cd=22 and 1, Cu=215 and 42, Pb=1770 and 65, Sb=18 and 3, Zn=3333 and 170, respectively, and extremely high concentrations are found in the subsurface sediments near the ore dump. Environmental toxic elements were strongly enriched in all samples, especially As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Sb and Zn. The level of enrichment was very severe in mining drainage sediments, while it was not so great in the soils. Based on the EPA value, enrichment index of toxic elements is 8.63 of mining drainage sediments and 0.54 of soils on the mining drainage. Mineral composition of soils and sediments near the mining area were partly variable being composed of quartz, mica, feldspar, amphibole, chlorite and clay minerals. From the gravity separated mineralogy, soils and sediments are composed of some pyrite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, goethite and various hydroxide minerals.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.1-19
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• 2004

Metallic deposits in Korea have a variety of genetic types such as hydrothermal veins, skarns, hydrothermal replacement and alaskite deposits and so on. Geological, mineralogical and geochemical features including host rock, wall-rock alteration, ore and gangue mineralogy, mineral texture and secondary mineralogy related to weathering process control the environmental signatures of mining areas. The environmental signatures of metallic deposits closed from early 1970s to late 1990s in Korea show complicate geochemistry and mineralogy due to step weathering of primary and secondary minerals such as oxidation-precipitation-remobilization. The potentiality of low pH and high heavy metal Concentration s from acid mine drainage is great in base-metal deposits associated with polymetallic mineralization, breccia-pipe type and Cretaceous hydrothermal Au veins with the amount of pyrite whereas skam, hydrothermal replacement, hydrothermal Cu and Au-Ag vein deposits are in low contamination possibility. The geoenvironmental models reflecting the various geologic features closely relate to disuibution of sulfides and carbonates and their ratios and finally effect on characteristics of environmental signatures such as heavy metal species and their concentrations in acid mine drainage.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.25-34
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• 2014

The objective of this study was to investigate the removal characteristics and the elimination mechanism of heavy metals in Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) using spherical-type porous Zeolite-StarFish ceramics (porous ZSF ceramics) packed in a continuous column reactor system. The average removal efficiencies of heavy metals in AMD were Al 98.7, As 98.7, Cd 96.0, Cu 89.1, Fe 99.5, Mn 94.4, Pb 96.3 and Zn 80.8 % during 110 days of operation time. The average removal capacity of porous ZSF ceramics for heavy metals were measured to be Al 21.76, As 1.52, Cd 1.27, Cu 3.41, Fe 44.83, Mn 3.48, Pb 2.36 and Zn $3.76mg/kg{\cdot}day$. The analysis results of mechanism using SEM, EDS and XRD exhibited that the porous ZSF ceramics could act as a multi-functional ceramics for the removal of heavy metals in AMD through the reactions of precipitation, adsorption and ion-exchange. The experimental results of column reactor system displayed that the porous ZSF ceramics would be a consistently efficient agent for the removal of heavy metals in AMD for a long term.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.15-24
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• 2014

This study was performed to investigate the removal characteristics of heavy metals in Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) using pellet-type Zeolite-StarFish ceramics (ZSF ceramics), in which natural zeolite and starfish were mixed and calcined with wood flour. Kinetic experiment showed the removal reaction of heavy metals by ZSF ceramics reached the equilibrium status within 3 hours. The optimal calcination temperature range for removal of heavy metals was measured to be $800{\sim}1,000^{\circ}C$. The calcination time had little effect on the removal of heavy metal in AMD. The adequate dose of ceramics was shown to be 1.0~1.2 % for removal of heavy metals in AMD. High removal efficiencies of heavy metals (Al, As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn) in AMD, more than 95 % except for Pb, were obtained under the condition of dose of ceramics more than 1.0 %. The removal efficiencies of heavy metals increased with increasing mixing concentration of wood flour. The adequate mixing concentration of wood flour was observed to be 10 %. The batch experimental results exhibited that the ZSF ceramics could act as an efficient ceramics for removal of heavy metals in AMD and the wood flour could provide porous ZSF ceramics with enhanced removal efficiency of heavy metals.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.25-36
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• 2017

This research was conducted to investigate the removal characteristics of heavy metals and sulfate ion from acid mine drainage (AMD) by multi-functional zeolite-slag ceramics (ZS ceramics), in which natural zeolite and converter slag were mixed and calcined at high temperature. The batch test showed that the removal efficiency of heavy metals by pellet-type ZS ceramics increased as the mixing weight ratio of converter slag to natural zeolite increased. The optimal mixing ratio of natural zeolite to converter slag for the removal of heavy metals and sulfate ion from AMD was observed to be 1:2~1:3. The adequate calcination temperature and time of ZS ceramics for the treatment of AMD were found to be $600{\sim}800^{\circ}C$ and 2 hours, respectively. The removal test of heavy metals and sulfate ion from AMD by the ZS ceramics prepared in optimal condition exhibited very high removal efficiencies close to 100% for all heavy metals (Al, As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn) and 77.1% for sulfate ion. The experimental results in this study revealed that the ZS ceramics could function as an effective agent for the treatment of AMD.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.63-75
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• 1999

This study was performed to investigate applicabilities of sewage sludge and papermill sludge as carbon sources in biologically treating abandoned acidic mine drainage, and effects of limestone. In spite of ranging average 3.3 in influent pH, SRB(Sulfate Reducing Bacteria) was well grown. because effluent pH was maintained by alkalinity a little under for whole stages. TCODcr was high in effluent with washing out in early stage. but its concentration was low with passed time and did not cause the problem of secondary pollution. Removal rate of Mn was remarkably low, but in case of heavy metals such as Fe, the fixation trends showed high as the volume of ${SO_4}^2$ reduction increased. In case of mixing sewage sludge and papermill sludge, when their mixing ratio were 1 : 1 and 2 : 1 respectively, rate of ${SO_4}^2$ reduction and removal rate of heavy metals were high. The mixing ratio 1 : 1 was considered as the most appropriate, because degradability of swewage sludge under short time was higher than that of papermill sludge. As a result of investigating efficiencies of limestone and biological treatment, biological treatment excelled limestone in neutralization and removal rate of heavy metals.