Sulfur and Oxygen Isotope Geochemistry of Acid Mine Drainage—The Polymetallic Sulfide Deposit “Himmelfahrt Fundgrube” in Freiberg (Germany)

Abstract

We investigated physical, chemical and isotope (S, O) parameters of sulfate from acid mine drainage from the polymetallic sulfide ore deposit Freiberg (Germany), which was mined for more than eight hundred years. Two main groups of water were distinguished: 1. Flowing mine water with sulfate concentrations of less than 9000 mg/1 and pH values higher than 3.2 2. Pore water in weathered low grade ores and pools with sulfate concentrations higher than 9000 mg/1 and pH values below 3.2. The sulfur and oxygen isotope composition of sulfate from flowing mine waters reflects mixing of sulfate from two sulfur sources: a) atmospheric sulfur from precipitation and b) sulfate formed as a result of sulfide oxidation processes. Sulfur isotope values of mine water sulfate were used to estimate the contribution of sulfate derived through oxidation of sulfides. The sulfur isotope composition of pore water sulfate and precipitated sulfate (jarosite) from weathered low grade ore samples is identical to the sulfur isotope composition of primary sulfides. The oxygen isotope composition of pore water sulfate from low grade ore samples indicates that the oxidation process proceeds relatively slowly in O2-depleted waters, probably without significant microbial catalysis.