The potential of using alkaline gold mine tailing as a cover material to mitigate AMD formation from acidic gold mine tailing pile at Sabie-Pilgrim's Rest Goldfields, South Africa.

Abstract

Acid mine drainage (AMD) caused by the oxidation of sulphide minerals found in mine waste is a global environmental concern, especially in water-restricted countries with heavy mining industries. Implementing AMD treatment and prevention programs can be extremely expensive, hence the need to identify environmentally sustainable treatment and preventative techniques to mitigate the potential of AMD formation. Soil covers and blends have been identified as an attractive approach. However, prior studies on the characteristics of the soils concerned and the acid-neutralisation rate should be carried out before considering the implementation of a soil cover or blending system to mitigate AMD formation. This study evaluated the acid generation capabilities of acidic gold mine tailings (AG), alkaline gold mine tailings (AN) and blends (MIX25, MIX50). Acid-base accounting (ABA), net acid generation (NAG) and acid-buffering characteristic curve (ABCC) test methods were used to evaluate the acid-generating and acid-neutralising capabilities of AG, AN, MIX25 and MIX50 samples. Leach column tests were conducted using alkaline gold mine tailings (AN) as the top pH neutralising cover (COV25) to determine the potential of the alkaline gold mine tailing to serve as a pH neutralising cover material to prevent and treat AMD generated by the acidic gold mine tailings. The ABA, NAG and ABCC results showed that AN has a high acid-neutralising capacity while AG has the potential to generate acid. The results further indicated that the AN to AG blend ratio of 1:3 by weight (MIX25) would neutralise the acid generated by AG. Leach column experiment (COV25) found that using AN as a pH neutralising cover would be a feasible option.