Fate and Transport of Arsenic in Uranium Mine Tailings

ISBN-13: 9783639005240 / Angielski / Miękka / 2011 / 200 str.

Brett J. Moldovan; M. Jim Henry

Opis

Mineralogical controls on the long-term stability of arsenic were studied in arsenic-rich uranium mine tailings deposited in the Rabbit Lake in-pit tailings management facility, northern Saskatchewan, Canada. Three-dimensional, reactive multi-component transport modeling of the RLITMF and the surrounding groundwater regime was conducted using geochemical field-based data, synchrotron X-ray absorption studies and laboratory-based diffusion cell experiments to quantify the fate and long-term (10,000 year) transport of arsenic. Results showed that adsorption of arsenic to the tailings and diffusive transport of dissolved arsenic in the tailings should reduce the source term concentration of arsenic to between 39 and 70% of the initial concentrations over the 10,000 year simulation period. Based on these simulations, the arsenic concentrations in the regional groundwater should be maintained at background concentrations of 0.001 mg/l over the 10,000 year period. These findings indicated that the engineered in-pit disposal of U mine tailings should provide long-term protection for the local groundwater regime from arsenic contamination.

O autorze

Moldovani, Brett Brett Moldovan is a Ph.D. graduate of the University of Saskatchewan. His work focused on the geochemistry, hydrogeology and contaminant transport of arsenic in uranium mine tailings. Brett resides in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He is currently employed with the Cameco Corporation at the Key Lake uranium mine. Jim Hendry, M. Professor M. Jim Hendry is the Cameco-NSERC Research Chair in Aqueous and Environmental Geochemistry at the University of Saskatchewan. Hendry received his PhD from the University of Waterloo in 1984. He has published more than 120 refereed papers in hydrogeochemistry. He has received numerous honours for his research. He was also the Darcy Lecturer for the National Ground Water Association in 2000.