| Course Description |
| When assessing the potential environmental impact from mining activities, an immediate question arises about potential impact and toxicity of mine-waste piles. This question is particularly difficult to assess for waste piles on abandoned mine lands in the western United States and coal-waste piles in the eastern United States where, in many cases, there is no water in direct contact with the piles except during meteorological events. For the past several years, scientists at the Colorado School of Mines and U.S. Geological Survey have been characterizing and studying the toxicity potential of waste-rock piles. Simple and practical methods have been developed for determining the potential of a waste-rock pile to cause significant contamination. For example, quick inexpensive field leaching tests have been developed that offer an evaluation of acid and trace-metal release from mine-waste material. Additionally, two-dimensional hydrologic and erosion models might be used to assess acid and metal sources and sinks. Such methods are presented for evaluating mine-waste piles from watershed scale, site scale, and microscopic scale, using geophysical, geochemical, and mineralogical methods. Current methods used to determine bioaccessibility and bioavailability of metals from wastes, such as extraction techniques, are described and assessed. Case studies with field and laboratory data illustrate these methods. These applications are used as the basis for a simple decision tree that has been developed to assess the potential impact of a waste-rock pile. An afternoon field trip is included. |
| Objectives |
Abandoned mine-waste sites in the western United States cover thousands of acres. This course will provide an up-to-date synopsis of how we examine mine-waste material and determine potential levels of toxicity. The main objectives of this course are to provide simple and practical methods for characterizing and assessing the toxicity potential of mine-waste piles, and to provide sufficient scientific background to support the assessment methods. |
| WHO SHOULD ATTEND |
| This short course is intended for professionals and students involved in the environmental sciences, federal and state personnel concerned with mining wastes, waste-site managers and personnel, and (or) researchers in hydrological contamination studies. |
| FACULTY |
Sharon Diehl
Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, MS 973, Box 25046, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225; 303-236-1830, diehl@usgs.gov
LaDonna Choate, David Fey, Phil Hageman, Bruce Smith, Kathy Smith, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO
Jim Ranville, Tom Wildeman, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO
Jim Herron, Abandoned Mined Land Program |
GSA Annual Meeting, Nov. 7-10, 2004, Denver, Colorado
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