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Characterisation of sulphide-bearing waste-rock dumps using electrical resistivity imaging: the case study of the Rio Marina mining district (Elba Island, Italy)

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Abstract

Sulphide-bearing mine dumps are potential sources of pollution when acid mine drainage (AMD) occurs. Because the generation of AMD depends on the volume and composition of waste materials, their characterisation is crucial for the evaluation of geochemical hazards and for the design of remediation strategies to minimise their environmental impact. In this paper, a cost-effective strategy for the characterisation of an inactive mine dump in the Rio Marina mining district (Elba Island, Italy) using earth resistivity imaging (ERI) is presented. As no information regarding the nature of waste rocks is found in reports for the mine, five ERI profiles were acquired at the top of the waste pile. The results show that waste rocks are heterogeneous with a maximum thickness of 30 m. Due to the large amounts of dispersed sulphide minerals, the waste rocks are characterised by an electrically conductive geophysical signature in comparison to the surrounding resistive metamorphic bedrock. A geostatistical approach was adopted to estimate the elevation of the edges of the mine dump, and the net volume of the waste rocks was computed through a raster analysis of the elevations of the upper and lower boundaries of the mine dump. High-conductivity anomalies were detected within the core of the mine dump. The integration of the hydrogeological, geochemical and geological framework of the Rio Marina mining district suggests that these anomalies could be a geophysical signature of subsurface regions where AMD is currently generated or stored, thus representing sources of environmental pollution.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Elba Island Mineralogical and Mining Park for their cooperation, and M. Lunghi, G. Muti, Bruno and Claudio for logistical and technical support. We also thank Mauro Giudici, Luisa De Capitani and Riccardo Bersezio for their critical reading and Fabrizio Felletti for his helpful suggestions. Thanks to an anonymous reviewer for his helpful comments and suggestions. Nicandro Crolla and Davide Grassi are warmly acknowledged for their help during field data acquisition. This work was supported by “Dote ricerca”: FSE–Regione Lombardia.

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  1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra “A. Desio”-Sezione di Geologia e Paleontologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Mangiagalli 34, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Mauro Mele

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra “A. Desio”-Sezione di Mineralogia, Petrografia, Geochimica e Giacimenti Minerari-Università degli Studi di Milano, via Botticelli 23, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Diego Servida

  3. i.Geo snc, via Ponchielli 19, 20062, Cassano d’Adda, Italy

    Domenico Lupis

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Correspondence to Mauro Mele.

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Mele, M., Servida, D. & Lupis, D. Characterisation of sulphide-bearing waste-rock dumps using electrical resistivity imaging: the case study of the Rio Marina mining district (Elba Island, Italy). Environ Monit Assess 185, 5891–5907 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2993-2

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