Abstract
Acid mine drainage (AMD) has resulted in significant risks to both human health and the environment of the Han River watershed. In this study, water and sediment samples from typical mine adits were selected to investigate the hydrogeochemical characteristics and assess the environmental impacts of AMD. The interactions between coexisting chemical factors, geochemical processes in the mine adit, and the causes of AMD formation are discussed based on statistical analysis, mineralogical analysis, and geochemical modeling. The results showed that the hydrochemical types of AMD consisted of SO4–Ca–Mg, SO4–Ca, and SO4–Mg, with low pH and extremely high concentrations of Fe and SO42–. The release behaviors of most heavy metals are controlled by the oxidation of sulfide minerals (mainly pyrite) and the dissolution/precipitation of secondary minerals. Along the AMD pathway in the adit, the species of Fe-hydroxy secondary minerals tend to initially increase and later decrease. The inverse model results indicated that (1) oxidative dissolution of sulfide minerals, (2) interconversion of Fe-hydroxy secondary minerals, (3) precipitation of gypsum, and (4) neutralization by calcite are the main geochemical reactions in the adit, and chlorite might be the major neutralizing mineral of AMD with calcite. Furthermore, there were two sources of AMD in abandoned mine adits: oxidation of pyrite within the adits and infiltration of AMD from the overlying waste rock dumps. The findings can provide deeper insight into hydrogeochemical processes and the formation of AMD contamination produced in abandoned mine adits under similar mining and hydrogeological conditions.
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This research was mainly supported by the Geological and Mineral Engineering Survey Institute, Shaanxi. All the authors sincerely thank the researchers and workers for their help. We also thank the anonymous referees for their thorough reviews and constructive comments. They have helped improve the quality of the original manuscript.
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WC took part in investigation; formal analysis; methodology; writing—original draft; writing—review and editing. XK involved in investigation; methodology; writing—review and editing. WW took part in resources; writing—reviewing and editing. PL took part in investigation; formal analysis. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.
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Chang, W., Ke, X., Wang, W. et al. Identifying sources of acid mine drainage and major hydrogeochemical processes in abandoned mine adits (Southeast Shaanxi, China). Environ Geochem Health 46, 60 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-024-01858-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-024-01858-y