Food and identity (re)creation in migrant communities: Applying ZooMS to highly fragmented faunal remains from an historical Queensland gold mining town, Ravenswood

Historic gold and coal mines in the same catchment near Reefton, New Zealand allow comparison of environmental effects of the different mines in the same climate and topography. Gold mine discharge waters (neutral pH) deposit hydrated iron oxide (HFO) abundantly at mine entrances, whereas coal mine discharge waters (low pH) precipitate HFO tens to hundreds of metres downstream as pH rises. Waters leaving historic mines have up to 59 mg L-1 dissolved arsenic, and HFO at gold mines has up to 20 wt% arsenic. Coal mine discharge waters have low dissolved arsenic (typically near 0.01 mg L-1) and HFO has <0.2 wt% arsenic. Minor dissolved Cu, Cr, Ni, and Zn are being leached from background host rocks by acid solutions during sulfide oxidation, and attenuated by HFO downstream of both gold and coal mines. A net flux of 30 mg s-1 arsenic is leaving the catchment, and nearly all of this arsenic flux is from the gold mining area, but >90% of that flux is from background sources. The present study demonstrates that elevated trace metal concentrations around mines in a wet climate are principally from non-anthropogenic sources and are readily attenuated by natural processes.

Historical gold mine tailings may have elevated total mercury (Hg) and total arsenic (As) concentrations. We collected and analyzed the fruticose lichen genus Usnea and the foliose lichen genus Platismatia for biomonitoring airborne sources of Hg and As at the historical Montague Gold Mine District in Nova Scotia, Canada. We investigated spatial trends of Hg and As measured from 112 Usnea (10 species) and 113 Platismatia (2 species) lichen thalli collected across four sampling grids covering both tailings and nontailings areas. Usnea consistently had higher Hg concentrations, while Platismatia showed higher As concentrations. Areas where there was evidence of known past mining activities (i.e., mine shafts, stamp mills, Hg-amalgamation sites) were found to be hotspots for both Hg and As in the lichen samples collected nearby. These areas likely received greater inputs of these elements from windblown tailings or volatilization processes, or indirectly from the interception of these elements by the forest edge/canopy adjacent to the tailings. A tailing-contaminated wetland at Montague was also identified as a hotspot for Hg, likely facilitating its redistribution into the atmosphere. Co-sampling of a fruticose and a foliose lichen can be an effective method for airborne monitoring of contaminants around historical mine tailing sites.

The historic Bullendale gold mine processed arsenopyrite-rich ore from mesothermal deposits in the South Island of New Zealand from 1864 to 1907. No site rehabilitation was undertaken upon mine closure and processing waste contains arsenic concentration of up to 40 wt%. Originally, all of this arsenic was present as arsenopyrite and with time it has been replaced by secondary arsenic phases. Waste evolution has resulted in a mineralogical gradation of arsenic phases between the ferrihydrite with varying amounts of adsorbed arsenic, amorphous iron arsenates and crystalline kankite, scorodite and zykaite. The stability of the secondary arsenic phases is favoured at low pH (pH 3, <0.1 mg/L) and, at present, reactions associated with iron arsenate dissolution ensure a prevailing pH window of c. 2.5 to 3.5. However, an increase in pH through flooding could destabilise the secondary arsenic minerals resulting in a substantial increase of arsenic solubility (>100 mg/L). In addition to the battery site, an upstream adit is a continuous source of dissolved arsenic to the environment. Due to the alkaline pH conditions in catchment water, arsenic remains mobile and dissolved As of c. 0.03 mg/L is detectable in Skippers Creek more than 2km downstream. Even when this anomaly has been diluted, the arsenic flux of the river is still predominantly controlled by the adit input.

Past investigations at historical gold (Au) districts in Nova Scotia, Canada have identified elevated concentrations of arsenic (As) and mercury (Hg) in nearby sediments and waters. These metal(loid)s are derived from erosion of mineralized bedrock, and the disposal of mine tailings into the environment during early operations. The Wine Harbour gold district is located along the eastern shore of Nova Scotia, and produced 1329 kg of Au from 75 581 tonnes of crushed rock from 1862 to 1939.The gold occurs in arsenopyrite-bearing quartz-carbonate veins and was extracted using stamp milling and Hg amalgamation. Historical maps document tailings deposits near former stamp mill sites; however, the extent to which these mine wastes influence environmental quality in the adjacent marine environment is uncertain. In this study, we measured metal(loid) concentrations in tailings, marine sediments, and surface waters to assess the lateral and vertical extent of mining-related impacts on Wine Harbour. Chemical analyses of terrestrial and intertidal tailings reveal high concentrations of both As (86–196 000 mg/kg) and Hg (444–320 000 µg/kg). Analyses of marine sediments show a wide range in both As (4–568 mg/kg) and Hg (&lt;5–7430 µg/kg) concentrations. In general, the highest metal(loid) concentrations in sediments were recorded down-gradient of stamp mill sites. Elevated concentrations were also detected in sediments underlying an active mussel aquaculture operation at the western end of the harbour. Results from this study have been used to help assess potential ecosystem and human health risks associated with historical gold mine wastes in the Wine Harbour area.

Research Article| January 01, 2014 Arsenic Associated with Historical Gold Mining in the Sierra Nevada Foothills: Case Study and Field Trip Guide for Empire Mine State Historic Park, California Charles N. Alpers; Charles N. Alpers U.S. Geological Survey, California Water Science Center, Sacramento, California, U.S.A., cnalpers@usgs.gov Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Perry A. Myers; Perry A. Myers California Department of Toxic Substances Control, Sacramento, California, U.S.A. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Daniel Millsap; Daniel Millsap California Department of Parks and Recreation, Sacramento, California, U.S.A. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Tamsen Burlak Regnier Tamsen Burlak Regnier Clean Harbors, San Diego, California, U.S.A. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry (2014) 79 (1): 553–587. https://doi.org/10.2138/rmg.2014.79.13 Article history first online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Charles N. Alpers, Perry A. Myers, Daniel Millsap, Tamsen Burlak Regnier; Arsenic Associated with Historical Gold Mining in the Sierra Nevada Foothills: Case Study and Field Trip Guide for Empire Mine State Historic Park, California. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 2014;; 79 (1): 553–587. doi: https://doi.org/10.2138/rmg.2014.79.13 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyReviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry Search Advanced Search The Empire Mine, together with other mines in the Grass Valley mining district, produced at least 21.3 million troy ounces (663 tonnes) of gold (Au) during the 1850s through the 1950s, making it the most productive hardrock Au mining district in California history (Clark 1970). The Empire Mine State Historic Park (Empire Mine SHP or EMSHP), established in 1975, provides the public with an opportunity to see many well-preserved features of the historic mining and mineral processing operations (CDPR 2014a). A legacy of Au mining at Empire Mine and elsewhere is contamination of mine wastes and... You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Mercury contamination from historical gold mines represents a potential risk to human health and the environment. This fact sheet provides background information on the use of mercury in historical gold mining and processing operations in California, with emphasis on historical hydraulic mining areas. It also describes results of recent USGS projects that address the potential risks associated with mercury contamination. Miners used mercury (quicksilver) to recover gold throughout the western United States. Gold deposits were either hardrock (lode, gold-quartz veins) or placer (alluvial, unconsolidated gravels). Underground methods (adits and shafts) were used to mine hardrock gold deposits. Hydraulic, drift, or dredging methods were used to mine the placer gold deposits. Mercury was used to enhance gold recovery in all the various types of mining operations; historical records indicate that more mercury was used and lost at hydraulic mines than at other types of mines. On the basis of USGS studies and other recent work, a better understanding is emerging of mercury distribution, ongoing transport, transformation processes, and the extent of biological uptake in areas affected by historical gold mining. This information has been used extensively by federal, state, and local agencies responsible for resource management and public health in California.

Mercury contamination from historic gold mines represents a potential risk to human health and the environment. This fact sheet provides background information on the use of mercury in historic gold mining and processing operations in California, and describes a new USGS project that addresses the potential risks associated with mercury from these sources, with emphasis on historic hydraulic mining areas. Miners used mercury (quicksilver) to recover gold throughout the western United States at both placer (alluvial) and hardrock (lode) mines. The vast majority of mercury lost to the environment in California was from placer-goldmines, which used hydraulic, drift, and dredging methods. At hydraulic mines, placer ores were broken down with monitors (or water cannons, fig. 1) and the resulting slurry was directed throughsluices and drainage tunnels, where goldparticles combined with liquid mercury to form gold?mercury amalgam. Loss ofmercury in this process was 10 to 30 percent per season (Bowie, 1905), resulting in highly contaminated sediments at mine sites (fig. 2). Elevated mercury concentrations in present-day mine waters and sediments indicate thathundreds to thousands of pounds of mercury remain at each of the many sites affected by hydraulic mining. High mercury levels in fish, amphibians, and invertebrates downstream of the hydraulic mines are a consequence of historic mercury use. On the basis of USGS studies and other recent work, a better understanding is emerging of mercury distribution, ongoing transport, transformation processes, and the extent of biological uptake in areas affected by historic gold mining. This information will be useful to agencies responsible for prudent land and resource management and for protecting public health.

Impact of mercury emissions from historic gold and silver mining: Global modeling

Mercury in sport fish from the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta region, California, USA

ABSTRACTThis study investigated the influence of acid-mine drainage (AMD) from the historic gold and copper mine in Mount Morgan, Queensland (Australia) on Dee River sediments and adjacent agricultural soils during pre- and post-acid flows and the speciation of metals in these sediments and soils. This was done to assess the potential bioavailability of the metals and to provide baseline information for parallel research on the potential of the metals to enter agricultural produce. Sediments at site 5 (20 km downstream of the mine site) contained Cd, Cu, and Zn levels of 4.8, 2631, and 602 mg kg−1, respectively, during low flow, and 2.6, 1835, and 756 mg kg−1, respectively, post high or acid flow. Sediments at site 8A in the floodplain area (about 60 km downstream of the mine), showed Cd, Cu, and Zn levels of 0.6, 294, and 159 mg kg−1, respectively, during low flow and 1.5, 689, and 295 mg kg−1, respectively, post high (acid) flow. Sediment cores (18-cm long) from site 8A gave ratios of Cd, Cu and S concentration in the top slice (0–6 cm from riverbed surface) to their concentration in the deeper slice (12–18 cm) of 36, 9 and 40, respectively, indicating historical AMD contamination. Lead was not a serious AMD contaminant as its level varied less than two-fold within the core in all cases. Sulfur levels were consistently high (mean = 10267 mg kg−1) in the entire 12-cm core from site 7B and were about 10 times the surface (0–6 cm) levels from the other sites, suggesting possible geogenic S sources at this site. Mean Cu level was 1783 mg kg−1 (range = 368–2510) in soils from the Dee River floodplain. BCR sequential extraction showed very similar average distribution of metals in the four fractions (F1 to F4) in sediments (from sites 5, 7B and 8A) and in the floodplain soils (site Dee P2). The sums of the acid-soluble (F1) and reducible (F2) fractions relative to the total metal content were Cd = 58%, Cu = 58%, Pb = 47% and Zn = 67% in sediments, and Cd = 67%, Cu = 63%, Pb = 47% and Zn = 58% in soils. Cu levels in these two most labile fractions alone exceeded the Australian sediment trigger value by an average factor of 9 (range = 3–23) in sediments, and the ecological investigation level for soils by an average factor of 12. The study demonstrated that AMD contamination spanned at least 80 km of the Dee River downstream of the mine and 30-cm depth of the riverbed and floodplains, with at least 50% of the total metal (particularly Cd, Cu and Zn) in the sediments and floodplain soils being potentially bioavailable to aquatic life and to the agricultural produce in the area.

Surficial geochemistry and bioaccessibility of tellurium in semiarid mine tailings

ABSTRACTAcid-mine drainage (AMD) into the Dee River from the historic gold and copper mine in Mount Morgan, Queensland (Australia) has been of concern to farmers in the area since 1925. This study sought to determine the levels of AMD-related metals and sulfur in agricultural produce grown near the mine-impacted Dee River, compare these with similar produce grown in reference fields (which had no known AMD influence), and assess any potential health risk using relevant Australian or US guidelines. Analyses of lucerne (Medicago sativa; also known as alfalfa) from five Dee fields showed the following average concentrations (mg/kg dry basis): Cd < 1, Cu 11, Fe 106, Mn 52, Pb < 5, Zn 25 and S 3934; similar levels were found in lucerne hay (used as cattle feed) from two Dee fields. All lucerne and lucerne hay data were generally comparable with levels found in the lucerne reference fields, suggesting no AMD influence; the levels were within the US National Research Council (US NRC) guidelines for maximum tolerable cattle dietary intake. Pasture grass (also cattle feed) from two fields in the Dee River floodplains gave mean concentrations (mg/kg dry) of Cd 0.14, Cu 12, Fe 313, Mn 111, Pb 1.4, Zn 86 and S 2450. All metal levels from the Dee and from reference sites were below the US NRC guidelines for maximum tolerable cattle dietary intake; however, the average Cd, Cu and Fe levels in Dee samples were significantly greater than the corresponding levels in the pasture grass reference sites, suggesting AMD influence in the Dee samples. The average levels in the edible portions of mandarin oranges (Citrus reticulata) from Dee sites (mg/kg wet weight) were Cd 0.011, Cu 0.59, Fe 2.2, Mn 0.56, Pb 0.18, S 91 and Zn 0.96. Cd and Zn were less than or close to, average Fe and Mn levels were at most twice, Cd 1.8 or 6.5 times, and Pb 8.5 or 72 times the maximum levels in raw oranges reported in the US total diet study (TDS) or the Australian TDS, respectively. Average Cd, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn levels in the citrus reference samples were found to exceed the maximum reported in one or both TDS surveys. Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn plant-soil transfer factor (TF) values were < 1 for all agricultural samples from both Dee and reference sites, suggesting relatively poor transfer of these metals from soil to plant. In the case of Cd, TF values for Dee pasture grass and citrus fruit samples were 0.14 and 0.73, respectively; lucerne and lucerne hay from both Dee and reference sites gave TF = 10, suggesting some potential risk to cattle, although this conclusion is tentative because Cd levels were close to or less than the detection limit. TF values for S in lucerne, lucerne hay, pasture grass and mandarin oranges from Dee sites were 18, 14, 3 and 3.6, respectively, indicating that S in soil was readily available to plant or fruit. Sulfur in pasture grass and citrus fruit (TF = 11 for both) was apparently more bioavailable at the reference sites than at the Dee sites (TF = 3.0 for pasture grass; TF = 3.6 for citrus fruit).

Numerous scientific reports concur that the Dee River is heavily impacted by acid mine drainage from the historic gold and copper mine at Mt Morgan, Central Queensland. The water quality along the Dee River, for 18 km downstream of the mine she to is junction with Fletcher Creek, is characterised by low pH, typically 2.8 to 4.2. With respect to metal concentrations, the Dee River has been described as one of Australia's most polluted rivers. Measurements of pH along the Dee River clearly demonstrated the movement of a slug of acidic water down the river during each of the four flow events between November 2000 and February 2001. Laboratory analysis of water samples collected during November indicated Al, Cu and Zn concentrations orders of magnitude above ANZECC guidelines. Fish kills occurred with each flow event and killed an estimated total of 26,000 fish.

The Keating Tailings site is located in Broadwater County, Montana on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management. These low pH (4 standard units) wastes resulting from historic gold and copper mining operations contain phytotoxic levels of several metals and are generally devoid of vegetation. With an estimated volume of 110,100 m 3 , these tailings represent unacceptable risk to the environment and human health. The objective of conducting a phytostabilization study at the Keating Tailings Site was to provide BLM managers and decision makers with site specific information and data relating to the implementation, and effectiveness of phytostabilization so that it may be applied to other similar acid metalliferous mine tailings sites administered by the Bureau. To achieve this management objective, replicated experimental plots were implemented using soil amendments, lime and organic matter, designed to ameliorate the plant inhibiting chemical characteristics of the tailings. The plots were seeded with a mix of indigenous native plant species. Vegetation performance of plants grown in the amended or phytostabilized tailings was compared to results for plants seeded into tailings that were not amended, and performance of plants seeded in an adjacent off-site, but non-impacted area. Response variables evaluated in the first growing season, 2004, included emergence and establishment, density, and canopy cover. Concentrations of metals in vegetation were evaluated in terms of plant sufficiency/excess, and in terms of maximum allowable dietary levels for cattle. Changes in soil rootzone pH, conductivity, and soluble metal concentrations before and after treatment were also determined.

The Jiapigou gold mine area, located in the upper reaches of the Songhua River, was the first and largest artisanal gold mine once in China, and it used to be prominent in two marking years (1870 and 1974). Jiapigou area had a gold mining history of more than 190 years, which was first opened in 1820. Gold extraction with algamation was applied as the dominant method of excavation from 1940 to 2008, and a total of more than 100 t of gold were extracted from the mine using this method and it was estimated that 100–200 t Hg were released, thus causing severe mercury environmental pollution in the mining area. In the experimental campaigns of this study, in situ air and soil Hg concentrations and air-soil Hg fluxes were measured from April 2009 to December 2011. The results showed that in the study area the total gaseous mercury (TGM) concentration exhibited remarkable spatial and temporal distribution patterns, i.e. the TGM gradually decreased following the increase in distance to gold mining sites in space, and the values in spring, summer and autumn were elevated by 1–2 orders of magnitude in comparison with those in winter. Furthermore, at other sampling sites the total soil mercury (TSM) concentration in spring was higher than that in autumn, except for the contrary laws demonstrated at the Erdaogou mining site. However, in spring and winter the Hg flux between air and soil was under the control of different environmental factors, and the characteristics were clear and distinct. In spring the Hg flux between air and soil was directly under the control of solar irradiation, and the releasing process was predominant with a remarkable positive correlation to solar irradiation. Nevertheless, in winter the Hg fluxes were indirectly under the control of solar irradiation, which caused thermal inversion due to the thick snow cover. The depositing process was predominant and the correlations between Hg flux and air temperature was remarkably negative, and there was a positive correlation between Hg flux and solar irradiation.