Abstract
The gold mining process at Kolar gold field (KGF) mines has generated about 32 million tons of tailings. Gold was extracted from the mined ores using cyanidation technique that involved dissolution of gold in the ore by water soluble alkali metal cyanides (example, sodium cyanide or potassium cyanide). Of the several dumps that received the mine tailings only the Kennedy’s Line dump was active prior to closure of the KGF mines in the year 2000. The Kennedy’s Line dump received sulfide bearing tailings in slurry form that comprised of spent ore and process water bearing soluble alkali metal cyanide. Depending on the pH of the tailing slurry, the free cyanides may exist as aqueous hydrogen cyanide that can escape to the atmosphere as hydrogen cyanide gas or occur as soluble cyanide (CN−) ions that can be leached by infiltrating water to the sub-surface environment. Additionally, the presence of pyrite minerals in the Kennedy’s Line dump makes them susceptible to acid drainage. This study examines the potential of gold tailings of Kennedy’s Line dump to release cyanide ions (CN−) and acid drainage to the sub-surface environment by performing physico-chemical and leaching tests with tailing samples collected from various depths of the dump, sub-surface soil samples beneath the dump and groundwater samples from vicinity of Kennedy’s Line dump. The chemical mechanisms responsible for the ambient cyanide and pH levels of the tailing dump, sub-surface soil samples and groundwater are also inferred from the laboratory results.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
C.A. Cravotta M.K. Trahan (1999) ArticleTitleLimestone drains to increase pH and remove dissolved metals from acidic mine drainage Applied Geochemistry 14 581–606 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0883-2927(98)00066-3
EPA: Reviews of the environmental effects of pollutants. V. Cyanide. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Health Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development. (1978), PB289920.
N. Gonen O.S. Kabasakal G. Ozdil (2004) ArticleTitleRecovery of cyanide in gold leach waste solution by volatilization and absorption Journal of Hazardous Materials 113 231–236 Occurrence Handle10.1016/j.jhazmat.2004.06.029
P.R. Hesse (1971) A Text-book of Soil Chemical Analysis Chemical Publishing Co. New York
IS: 2720 –Indian Standards: Methods of test for soils-Determination of Grain size analysis, (1985).
IS 2720 – Indian Standards: Methods of test for soils-Determination of pH value, (1987).
IS: 2720 – Indian Standards: Methods of test for soils-Determination of total soluble solids to estimate the soluble salt content of soils, (1995).
IS: 2720 – 1995 Methods of test for soils-Determination of total soluble solids to estimate the soluble salt content of soils.
B.R. Krishna F.H. Gejji (2001) ArticleTitleThe mill tailings of Kolar gold mines Current Science 80 1475–1476
D. Krishna Rao (1984) Karnataka Weather Guide Harsha Printers Mysore
D.R. Lide (1998) CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics CRC New York
Nordstrom D.K., Jenne E.A. and Ball J.W. (1979) Redox equilibria of iron in acid mine waters. In Chemical modeling in aqueous systems (edited by E.A. Jenne), American Chemical Society Symposium. Washington, D.C., Vol. 93, pp. 51–79
Nordstrom, D.K. (1982). Aqueous pyrite oxidation and the consequent formation of secondary iron minerals. In Acid Sulfate Weathering (edited by J.A. Kittrick and D.S. Fanning), Soil Science Society of America, pp. 37–56
Plummer, L.N., Parkhurst, D.L. and Wigley, M.L. (1979). Critical review of the kinetics of calcite dissolution and precipitation. In E.A. Jenne (ed.), Chemical Modeling in Aqueous Systems – Speciation, Sorption, Solubility, and Kinetics, American Chemical Society Symposium Series 93, pp. 537–573.
B.P. Radhakrishna (1996) Mineral Resources of Karnataka Geological Society of India Bangalore, India
B.P. Radhakrishna R. Vaidyanadhan (1997) Geology of Karnataka Geological Society of India Bangalore
Rimstidt, J.D. and Vaughan, D.J. Pyrite oxidation: a state-of-the-art assessment of the reaction mechanism. Geochemica et Cosmochemica Acta 67, 873–880.
Singer, P.C. and Stumm, W. (1970). Acid mine drainage: the rate determinating step. Science 167, 1121–1123, (2003).
A. Smith A. Dehrmann R. Pullen (1984) The effects of cyanide-bearing gold tailings disposal on water quality in the Witwatersand, South Africa, Proceedings of the Conference on Cyanide and the Environment Tuscon Arizona
W. Stumm J.J. Morgan (1996) Aquatic Chemistry – Chemical Equilibria and Rates in Natural Waters Wiley-Interscience New York
D.K. Todd (1980) Groundwater Hydrology John Wiley New York
C.A. Wentz (1989) Hazardous Waste Management McGraw Hill New York
C.A. Young T.S Jordan (1995) Cyanide remediation: current and past technologies In Proceedings of the 10th Annual Conference on Hazardous Waste Research (edited by Erickson, Tillison, Grant and McDonald) Kansas State University USA
G.J. Zagury K. Oudjehani L. Deschênes (2004) ArticleTitleCharacterization and availability of cyanide in solid mine tailings from gold extraction plants Science of the Total Environment 320 211–224 Occurrence Handle10.1016/j.scitotenv.2003.08.012
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rao, S.M., Reddy, B.V.V. Characterization of Kolar gold field mine tailings for cyanide and acid drainage. Geotech Geol Eng 24, 1545–1559 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-005-3372-3
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-005-3372-3