The dynamics of neutralization of acid drainage in river confluences plays a key role in the attenuation of metals. In this work, we address the natural attenuation of Cu in a river confluence in the upper Mapocho watershed. This watershed hosts one of the largest known copper reserves and it is also a source of drinking water for Santiago, Chile. ...
Hoy vemos a la costa arreica del Desierto de Atacama como un lugar árido, estéril y carente de recursos básicos para la vida, en especial agua y vegetales. Pero cabe cuestionarse cuánto de lo que vemos hoy es natural y cuánto es producto de la actividad humana previa. En este sentido, presentamos un panorama histórico de la ocupación humana en este...
The Andes mountain range provides the setting for watersheds with high natural background of metals and for mining operations that enhance contaminant mobilization, notably in Northern and Central Chile. Dissolved and solid metal species are actively transported by streams to the Pacific Ocean from area and point sources, like acid drainage. We exa...
Published in Chemosphere
Lake Kutubu, a large tropical lake in Papua New Guinea, is well known for its ecological importance; however, there have been recent changes to the pristine nature of this lake due to activities associated with the largest oil and gas project in PNG. The aim of this study was to determine the geochemical profile of sediment cores of Lake Kutubu and...
Published in Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change
From an economic point of view Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) is a promising technology that can be used to reach coal resources that are difficult or expensive to by conventional mining methods. Furthermore, the process addresses safety concerns, by avoiding the presence of workers underground. An optimal UCG process requires the integration ...
Published in The Extractive Industries and Society
Risk assessment is increasingly used in the context of mining activities, at various stages of mining projects. This applies also to mineral heap leach pads that are used for the recovery of gold, copper, silver and several other metals and non-metals. A heap leach pad consists of a lined facility (typically a composite liner) onto which ore is pla...
The Ribeira de Iguape River basin received intense mining activities for lead exploiting and, as a result, the river received the discharges of estimated amounts of 5.5 tons/month of material rich in As, Ba, Cd, Pb, Cu, Cr and Zn. In this article, the toxicity of waters and sediments collected in Ribeira de Iguape River was assessed aiming to estim...
The ceasing of a two centuries intense French underground mining industry has let a stupendous number of disused mines exploited by the room and pillar method. By the end of the 1990s, a series of catastrophic ground collapse and subsidence phenomena in urbanized zones occurred, triggering the foundation of a post mining national policy and launchi...
