Guangdong Dabaoshan Mine: ecological degradation, acid drainage and possible measures for their Remediation
LINChu-xia1,2, LONG Xin-xian1, TONG Xiao-li1, XU Song-jun3, ZHANG Jia-en4
1. College of Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642; 2. School of Environmental Science and Management, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW Australia; 3. Department of Geography, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631; 4. Institute of Tropical and Subtropical Ecology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
This article reports the ecological degradation and off-site environmental impacts of acid drainage in Guangdong Dabaoshan Mine, based on field observation and measurements, and laboratory analysis of the water and soil samples collected from the site. The results show that the open pits are major acid sources for acid mine drainage. At the time of field measurements, the mine water discharging into a tributary of the Wengjiang River had a pH of 3.36 at the Mud Containment Dam (MCD). Concentrations of most heavy metals exceeded the permitted levels of waste water discharge stated in the National (P.R. China) Standards for Integrated Waste Water Discharges (GB8978-1996) even at a point of about 3.5 km downstream of the Mud Containment Dam. From a technical point of view, remediation of this minesite requires a combination of geochemical engineering and bioremediation technologies.
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