Seth Mueller

• Boliden AB

The weathering signature of mining waste facilities is intrinsically linked to the availability, depletion, and transport of oxygen. Key to these processes is the oxygen consumption rate of the mining waste, often termed Oxygen Consumption Rate (OCR). This is a material specific parameter with the rate being influenced by many factors such as sulfi...

A range of well-developed standardised geochemical static and kinetic leach tests described by industry-standard protocols, guidance and laboratory method statements are currently widely used to determine AMD risk. Industry-standard leach tests use variable liquid to solid (L:S) ratio, including 2:1 for a paste pH test, 20:1 for SPLPs or TCLPs, to...

The Net Acid Generation (NAG) test is generally carried out using a consistent method, irrespective of the site or the geochemical properties of material being tested. There are significant risks posed by utilising standard methods to assess processes which are inherently site specific like AMD. This can lead to misleading interpretations of result...

Mineral carbonation has been widely recognised as an important mechanism in the sequestering of CO 2 into mining wastes and by-products. The generation of fast-reacting carbonates in the carbonation process may also have important implications for the mitigation and prevention of acid mine drainage (AMD). Laboratory-scale methods have been develope...

This paper summarizes recent experience building climate change scenario data into mine design and permitting studies in Canada and Sweden. For a proposed mine in Yukon Territory, Canada, and an existing mine in northern Sweden, this paper: 1) summarizes recent climate trends and future climate change scenario data for the two mine sites; 2) summar...

The large volume of pit lakes and their potential role in mine water management make them a focal point of closure planning. In this paper, the modelling of pit lake physical structure and water quality for the Aitik Pit (Aitik Mine, northern Sweden) is used to illustrate: 1) the importance of developing robust site-specific model inputs for the de...

Pit lakes are a common post-closure feature at mine sites where open pits are allowed to fill with groundwater and surface runoff. The large volume of pit lakes and their potential role in water management make them a focal point of closure planning. Pit lakes can be allowed to fill passively, or alternatively, filling can be engineered to best mee...

Backfilling of open pit with sulfidic waste rock followed by inundation is a common method for reducing sulfide oxidation after mine closure. This approach can be complemented by mixing the waste rock with alkaline materials from pulp and steel mills to increase the system's neutralization potential. Leachates from 1 m(3) tanks containing sulfide-r...

The Kantishna Hills mining district of interior Alaska, USA, located within Denali National Park and Preserve, contains a number of antimony lode deposits, including Alaska's historically largest antimony producer, the Stampede mine. Oxidative weathering of sulfidic tailings and waste rock associated with historic mining operations has impacted wat...

Ester Dome, an upland area near Fairbanks, Alaska, was chosen for a detailed hydrogeochemical study because of the previously reported elevated arsenic in groundwater, and the presence of a large set of wells amenable to detailed sampling. Ester Dome lies within the Fairbanks mining district, where gold-bearing quartz veins, typically containing 2–...

A reconnaissance-level study of post-mining hydrogeochemical conditions was carried out at the Brewery Creek gold deposit within the Tintina Gold Province. The deposit is characterized by epizonal mineralization with a consistent arsenic-gold-mercury-antimony geochemical signature. Surface discharges and seeps in the area are naturally alkaline (pH...