Sulphur Mine Research Articles

Building a Colonial Resource Monopoly: the Expansion of Sulphur Mining in new Spain, 1600–1820*

.The discovery, extraction, and monopolistic control of key natural resources was a priority of New Spain's colonial administration. Managing the region's abundant resources, however, often proved difficult for the Spanish Crown. Human and environmental challenges impeded protoindustrial growth and development, and monopolistic control of resources often met resistance. In this article I examine these processes in the context of New Spain's little‐known monopoly on sulphur—a yellow, powdery mineral the Crown jealously guarded as its own. Sulphur was critical for gunpowder and explosives production, yet the Crown often failed to produce enough of it to meet the growing demand by its military and the silver blast‐mining industry. Colonial documents reveal administrators’ attempts to improve sulphur production through reform measures, which included advising sulphur miners on how to discover sulphur deposits and, eventually, how to develop their mines. Efforts to improve sulphur production were moderately successful, although the process was messy and inefficient.

The content of the forms of calcium and sulphur in the spoil tip of initial soil in the sulphur mine “Machów” after many years of its agricultural and forestry land use

Calcium and sulphur are basic macro-components necessary for all living organisms. At the same time these components have a strong and antagonistic impact on chemical properties of soil, especially its reaction. Calcium occurs in many rock-forming minerals (calcite, dolomite, gypsum, anorthite, apatite, phosphorites and others); its content in not limed soils ranges from 0.1% to 1.5%, while in the rendzina soils it can exceed 10% [5, 12]. In the opinion of most researchers even in mineral soils, generally poor in this element, there is enough calcium to meet the requirements of the plants; the reason for its adding to soils in the agricultural areas is the necessity of the improvement of its reaction and structure [5, 11, 12]. The overburden grounds of the sulphur ore making the external spoil tip of the “Machow” Mine – the object of the studies – despite their non-selective moulding and piling, are characterized with a high homogeneity. According to the studies carried out during its construction [2], the upper level of the spoil tip consists in 90% of Tertiary (Miocene) formations – the Krakowiec Clays with the inclusion of (among others) hard limestones, marls and marl tiles, which contain a lot of Ca. These grounds have a grain composition of clays or heavy clays of a very high content of the sub-fraction of colloid clay (usually above 40% – Tabs 1, 2), with a high participation of montmorillonite containing cations of calcium in the inter-pack spaces (Ca-montmorillonite). The total content of calcium in the grounds of the spoil tip horizons near the surface, before starting the reclamation works, was on average about 5% [8], which is intermediate between the content in not limed soils and the rendzina soils. The predominant part of calcium occurred in the form of carbonates, the content of which was usually around 10% [2, 8].

Influence of Pollution from Abandoned Sulfur Mines on Riverine Environment

Influence of Pollution from Abandoned Sulfur Mines on Riverine Environment

Biomass, Density, and Size Distributions of Fishes Associated with a Large-Scale Artificial Reef Complex in the Gulf of Mexico

The Freeport Sulphur Mine Artificial Reef (FSMAR) is a decommissioned oil and gas platform and serves as the largest artificial reef complex in the northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM). Given the increasing numbers of artificial reefs in the NGOM, yet the paucity of information that exists, the goals of this study were to evaluate the biomass, density, and size structure of fishes associated with FSMAR. Mobile acoustic surveys were used to assess both horizontal and vertical distribution and abundance of fishes associated with the shallow water (16 m depth) reef complex and adjacent soft-bottom habitats extending 1 km from the reef complex. Highest acoustic estimates of fish biomass and density were found directly over the reef with a five-fold and 16-fold decrease at 10 and 30 m distances from the structure, respectively. In addition, fish biomass and density were highest in the bottom water column (> 10 m), followed by mid-water (6.1–10 m), and lowest in the upper water column (1.5–6 m). Findings suggest that fish distribution at the FSMAR is much greater than previously surveyed decommissioned oil and gas platforms and natural reef habitats in the NGOM. We consider the potential importance of this unique nearshore complex as an important habitat to fishes utilizing nearby estuarine and inner shelf systems in the NGOM.

Formation of secondary carbonates and native sulphur in sulphate-rich Messinian strata, Sicily

Abstract Microbially formed authigenic carbonates accompanied by native sulphur are present in the ‘Calcare Solfifero’ below a thick succession of gypsum deposited during the Messinian salinity crisis in Sicily. We sampled these carbonates and associated sulphur in five former sulphur mines to subject them to a detailed petrographic and geochemical study in order to explore their different modes of formation. Native sulphur formed in conjunction with microbial sulphate reduction, which is reflected in its depletion in 34S (δ34S values as low as − 2‰ vs. V-CDT) and an enrichment of 34S in the residual sulphate (δ34S values as high as + 61‰). The oxidation of organic matter by sulphate reduction increased alkalinity, inducing precipitation of secondary carbonate minerals. A set of authigenic limestones lacking sulphate minerals, but characterized by pseudomorphs after gypsum and high δ18O values (as high as + 9‰ vs. V-PDB) reflects syngenetic mineral formation within evaporitic settings. Low δ13C values (as low as − 52‰ vs. V-PDB) reveal that these carbonate phases were formed by microbial sulphate reduction coupled to the oxidation of biogenic methane. Another set of authigenic carbonates that replaced sulphate minerals is typified by low δ18O values (as low as − 4‰). These carbonates formed epigenetically during later diagenesis following compaction. Dissolution of gypsum or anhydrite by meteoric waters delivered the sulphate for microbial sulphate reduction. Low carbon isotope values of these carbonates (− 29 to − 5‰) indicate that carbonate was derived from the oxidation of crude oil and possibly minor methane, partly involving different degrees of admixture of dissolved carbonate from other sources. Although the studied rocks with their vast amounts of secondary carbonate minerals and sulphur seem to indicate a similar genesis at first glance – having formed by biogeochemical transformations of sulphate and hydrocarbons – this study reveals that these processes can occur at different times in variable geological environments.

Large scale disposal of waste sulfur: From sulfide fuels to sulfate sequestration

Abstract Petroleum industries produce more byproduct sulfur than the market can absorb. As a consequence, most sulfur mines around the world have closed down, large stocks of yellow sulfur have piled up near remote operations, and growing amounts of toxic H 2 S are disposed of in the subsurface. Unless sulfur demand drastically increases or thorough disposal practices are developed, byproduct sulfur will persist as a chemical waste problem on the scale of 10 7 tons per year. We review industrial practices, salient sulfur chemistry, and the geochemical cycle to develop sulfur management concepts at the appropriate scale. We contend that the environmentally responsible disposal of sulfur would involve conversion to sulfuric acid followed by chemical neutralization with equivalent amounts of base, which common alkaline rocks can supply cheaply. The resulting sulfate salts are benign and suitable for brine injection underground or release to the ocean, where they would cause minimal disturbance to ecosystems. Sequestration costs can be recouped by taking advantage of the fuel-grade thermal energy released in the process of oxidizing reduced compounds and sequestering the products. Sulfate sequestration can eliminate stockpiles and avert the proliferation of enriched H 2 S stores underground while providing plenty of carbon-free energy to hydrocarbon processing.

Can poor foraging habitat (an inundated opencast sulphur mine) be attractive to the great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus)?

Can poor foraging habitat (an inundated opencast sulphur mine) be attractive to the great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus)? During investigations of an inundated opencast sulphur mine (an open, deep water habitat with a relatively small littoral area) only five species of breeding water birds were recorded. The density of breeding great crested grebes Podiceps cristatus was relatively high (c. 1.0-1.1 pairs 10 ha-1 of water, and 1.6-1.8 pairs ha-1 of the macrophyte area) although fish density was very low. High water transparency probably compensated for low prey density, because potential prey could be readily detected. Most of the fish were small and occurred in the upper layers of the water column (they could not live below 10 m where the water was anoxic), so were readily available and easily caught by the grebes.

Purification of the Mineral-Contaminated Water by Instillment through Bore Holes in the Matsuo Sulphur Mine

Purification of the Mineral-Contaminated Water by Instillment through Bore Holes in the Matsuo Sulphur Mine

Reclamation problems for the area of a former borehole sulphur mine with particular reference to soil air properties

AbstractIn order to select appropriate methods of reclamation of anthropogenic soil in the area of the former ‘Jeziórko’ borehole mine, the air capacity and air permeability of the soil were measured. A field covering an area of 6·25 ha in which the former mining boreholes were only eliminated and no other reclamation treatments carried out was chosen for the study. The control stand was located in phytocoenosis Querco‐Fagetea situated in the vicinity of the sulphur mine, but outside the area of direct mining activities on Haplic Gleysol. Samples were collected from 0–10, 10–20 and 20–30 cm layers in 25 equally distributed locations of anthropogenic soil and 1 of natural soil. The soil water‐air properties at the soil water potential of −9·81 kPa and at the potential at the time of soil collection (the so‐called actual state) were determined. Spatial relations in the capacity and air permeability observation series were assessed for post‐industrial soil by geostatistical methods. Kriging with a linear variogram was used. Geostatistical analysis made mapping of the air properties of heterogenic soil cover in the study area possible. Non‐reclaimed soils of the experimental field were characterized by faulty aeration resulting from a relatively low air capacity and, additionally, insufficient air permeability. The important objective of reclamation should be the homogenisation of the reconstructed soil in order to achieve equally good soil structure and air conditions favourable for vegetation within the whole investigated area. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rediscovering the palette of Alentejo (Southern Portugal) earth pigments: provenance establishment and characterization by LA-ICP-MS and spectra-colorimetric analysis

Colored earth pigments sourced from Alentejo, Portugal, can be geologically categorized as either weathered carbonate rocks (terra rossas), schist units, or weathered iron ore deposits. The material was used until the mid-1900s by local residents as an ingredient in their traditional lime wash paintings and possibly in the production of artistic murals across the Alentejo region since pre-historic times. An integrated methodology incorporating laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and spectra-colorimetric analysis (CIELAB coordinates and reflectance curves), complemented by XRD, WDXRF, SEM-EDX, optical microscopy, and granulometric analysis, was used to characterize thirty-one Alentejo colored earths in an effort to correlate provenance with pigments properties. Data obtained from elemental analysis (major and trace) revealed a generic and similar elemental “fingerprint” that unable their distinction according to geographic provenance. Samples of weathered iron ore deposits derived from explored iron, copper, and sulfur mines are more easily discriminated using the chalcophilic (“sulfur-loving“) elements. Color analysis revealed a range of hues; olive-yellow to dark reddish-brown owing mainly to differences in the type and proportion of the color component present, independent of the accessory mineral.

Vegetation succession at the abandoned Ogushi sulfur mine, central Japan

We surveyed plant community development at the abandoned Ogushi sulfur mine. We found seven communities dominated by the following respective species: Deschampsia flexuosa, Miscanthus sinensis, shrub willow, Gaultheria miqueliana–Betula ermanii, Sasa senanensis–Betula ermanii, willow–Betula ermanii, and Sasa kurilensis–Abies veitchii. We examined the succession of these communities, in which younger communities of low height and ground cover contained seedlings of the successive communities that were taller and had higher ground cover. To understand the development of these different communities, we surveyed damage from mining pollution and effects of immature soils formed by landslides. The average pH (H2O) was 4.12, and aluminum concentrations were not sufficiently high to damage plant growth, except in areas where sulfur had been mined. The organic carbon and nitrogen content in soil samples were very low because of a delay in soil development caused by a large landslide in 1937. Hence, succession was positively correlated with the soil development stage. The delay in soil development after a large landslide influenced the seven successional steps of the plant communities, but mineral poisons at the abandoned Ogushi sulfur mine had no effect on succession.

幌別硫黄鉱山地域における砒素や重金属を溶出させる熱水変質岩の地質学的特徴

幌別硫黄鉱山地域における砒素や重金属を溶出させる熱水変質岩の地質学的特徴

Degraded temperature sensitivity of a stone pine chronology explained by dendrochemical evidences

Fluctuations in sulphur (S) content in tree rings were analysed for a 93 years long period (1915–2007) by laser ablation system coupled to an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer from three Swiss stone pine ( Pinus cembra L.) trees grown in the Rachitis Cirque, Calimani Mts, Eastern Carpathians. Investigated domain envelops the period of degraded climatic sensitivity of pines’ growth. Chemical data were standardized for sapwood and heartwood separately. The averaged sulphur record calculated from the three individual records unequivocally presents anomalously high S content for the tree rings dated to 1970s and 1980s. Ring-width fluctuation portrays changes of summer temperature but from 1966 to 1986 pines produced apparently larger rings than the corresponding summer temperatures can explain. This deviating interval coincides with the period of exploitation in the nearby sulphur mine. The elevated S content in tree rings refers probably to the dispersion of S-rich dust around the mine owing to the opencast type of exploitation. The divergent growth trend and degraded climatic signal likely due to the anthropogenic altered nutritional status of the site, as residues from nitrogen fertilizer, applied as a compound of explosive in the opencast sulphur exploitation, could be deposited on the surrounding forest.

Microbial efficiency in a meromictic reservoir

Abstract Indices of microbial efficiency (expressed as oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide release) were determined in the water column of the meromictic Piaseczno Reservoir (in an opencast sulphur mine), which is rich in sulphur compounds. Phytoplankton abundances were low in both the mixolimnion (up to 15 m depth) and monimolimnion (below 15 m depth). In summer and winter, carbon dioxide release was 3-fold and 5-fold higher, respectively, in the monimolimnion than in the mixolimnion. Laboratory enrichments of the sulphur substrate of the water resulted in a decrease in oxygen consumption rate of by about 42% in mixolimnion samples, and in the carbon dioxide release rate by about 69% in monimolimnion samples. Water temperature, pH and bivalent ion contents were of major importance in shaping the microbial metabolic efficiency in the mixolimnion, whilst in the monimolimnion these relationships were not evident.

Gypsum karst intensification as a consequence of sulphur mining activity (Jaziv field, Western Ukraine)

The scope of this study is to evaluate the parameters of the gypsum–anhydrite strata karstification under the influence of the quarry exploitation of Jaziv sulphur field (West Ukraine) accompanying by drainage. The quarry drainage provoked the enormous depression cone forming with 100 km2 in area and the corresponding intensification of chemical denudation of the gypsum–anhydrite strata. The gypsum karstification rate for the 29-year period of the quarry drainage was 0.06% with the dissolved rock volume of 1,328,507 m3 that is about 80 times higher than in natural conditions. For the drainage period (29 years) the karst denudation rate was 17,952 m3/km2 against the natural background of 231.3 m3/km2. The absolute value of artificial denudation for the studied massif area is 1.79 cm for 29 years or 0.062 mm/year while the denudation rate under natural conditions would be 0.231 cm for 29 years or 0.0008 mm/year. The forecasted volumes of the surface-evident collapses are evaluated using the relationship between the calculated amount of dissolved sulphate rocks and volumes of the current surface-evident collapses. According to this evaluation, the current collapses correspond to about 34% only from the dissolved rocks volume calculated for the drainage period.

Evaluation of land farming and chemico-biological stabilization for treatment of heavily contaminated sediments in a tropical environment

Conventional and experimental methods were studied for the remediation of petroleum contaminated sediments from a dam previously used to collect acid run-off from a sulfur mine. The man-made lake had been neutralized, but bentonite rich sediments remained contaminated with very weathered hydrocarbons (sediments with ∼50,000–60,000 mg/kg Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons were used in this study). Biostimulation, bioaugmentation (with native microorganisms) and chemico-biological stabilization, all resulted in similar reductions (14–16%) in the TPH concentration over a three month period. The land farming treatments resulted in variable reductions in toxicity, ranging from nil to complete, while the chemico-biological stabilization treatment, not only eliminated acute toxicity but also resulted in a slight stimulation (∼103–109%) of the test organism in the bioassay (Microtox). All three treatments reduced polyaromatic hydrocarbons of probable carcinogenicity to below or nearly below the Mexican norms, reduced Toxic Characteristic Leaching Proceedure leachates to <1 mg/L, and left the material in a pH range of 7.0–7.8. The chemico-biological stabilization has the advantage of only requiring initial mixing of the chemical and organic reagents instead of daily aeration, thereby reducing operating costs. This method is also able to treat very difficult sites at low cost, relying on biological humification processes which are accelerated in a humid tropical and semitropical environment. The total unit cost of the chemico-biological stabilization treatment was estimated to be ∼60% of that for land farming in the southern Gulf of Mexico region.

Test results of a newly proposed neutralization process to reduce and utilize the sludge

Sludge from AMD is difficult to handle and dispose, because of the contained toxic substances, such as arsenic, cadmium, etc. To reduce the sludge, the bacterial oxidation and two step neutralization process was proposed and tested by a bench scale plant. The test was carried out by treating the AMD from the abandoned Horobetsu sulfur mine in Japan, which contains about 300 mg/L ferrous ion and 10 mg/L arsenic with pH 1.8. In this process, ferrous ion is oxidized by bacteria, and the AMD neutralizes to pH 3.5 by calcium carbonate in the first step, and neutralized up to pH 7.0 by carbon hydroxide in the second step. The results of the test include, Fe and As contained sludge was generated at the first step and lower As contained sludge was generated at the second step; the sludge volume was reduced by 30% and the second step’s sludge possibly be used as a industrial material.

Вплив факторів середовища на ріст і синтез пігментів пурпуровими сірковими бактеріями

Досліджено вплив різних факторів середовища на ріст і синтез пігментів окремими штамами пурпурових сіркових бактерій родів Chromatium, Thiocystis, Thiocapsa і Lamprocystis, виділених із водойм Яворівського сіркового родовища. Для оптимального росту бактерій у середовище необхідно вносити кальцій, магній, манган, ферум, хлорид натрію. Внесення цих елементів дозволяє значно підвищити вихід біомаси бактерій і синтез ними каротиноїдів та бактеріохлорофілу а. Суттєвий вплив на ріст пурпурових сіркових бактерій виявляє початкова концентрація посівного матеріалу та донора електронів. Після окиснення сульфіду на початкових етапах розвитку культури спостерігається уповільнення росту і руйнування клітин під дією світла. Для оптимізації росту бактерій донор електронів (сульфід) необхідно вносити багаторазово у процесі культивування в концентрації, що не перевищує інгібуючу дозу. Додаткове внесення до середовища донора електронів сприяє зростанню біомаси клітин. Позитивний вплив на синтез пігментів виявляє внесення до середовища ацетату. Необхідною умовою для росту та синтезу пігментів є інтенсивність освітлення. Максимальний ріст культур спостерігали при освітленості 400 лк. Зростання інтенсивності освітлення супроводжується зниженням темпів росту і вмісту каротиноїдів та бактеріохлорофілу а у клітинах. У всіх штамів синтез пігментів пригнічується киснем.

Application of environmental groundwater tracers at the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine, California, USA

Boron, chloride, sulfate, δD, δ18O, and 3H concentrations in surface water and groundwater samples from the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine (SBMM), California, USA were used to examine geochemical processes and provide constraints on evaporation and groundwater flow. SBMM is an abandoned sulfur and mercury mine with an underlying hydrothermal system, adjacent to Clear Lake, California. Results for non-3H tracers (i.e., boron, chloride, sulfate, δD, and δ18O) identify contributions from six water types at SBMM. Processes including evaporation, mixing, hydrothermal water input and possible isotopic exchange with hydrothermal gases are also discerned. Tritium data indicate that hydrothermal waters and other deep groundwaters are likely pre-bomb (before ~1952) in age while most other waters were recharged after ~1990. A boron-based steady-state reservoir model of the Herman Impoundment pit lake indicates that 71–79% of its input is from meteoric water with the remainder from hydrothermal contributions. Results for groundwater samples from six shallow wells over a 6–month period for δD and δ18O suggests that water from Herman Impoundment is diluted another 3% to more than 40% by infiltrating meteoric water, as it leaves the site. Results for this investigation show that environmental tracers are an effective tool to understand the SBMM hydrogeologic regime.

Microbial Diversity in an Iron Oxidation Tank of an AMD Treatment Plant at an Abandoned Sulphur Mine

This paper describes about microbial diversity in an iron oxidation tank of an AMD treatment plant established at an abandoned sulphur mine in Japan. Since the mining operation was stopped, this mine has produced strong acidic mine drainage, pH 1.8, including a high concentration of ferrous iron, 301mg/L, and the flow rate was about 4m3/min. In 2006, a pilot scale microbial iron oxidizing system was installed to remove total iron more easily from the AMD by oxidizing ferrous iron to ferric iron. From the start of this pilot operation, microbial diversity in the iron oxidation tank was investigated using a PCR-DGGE method for about two months. In the PCR, V3 region of 16S rRNA gene for Bacteria was amplified. The profiles of DGGE showed that there were three dominant species in the iron oxidation tank through the experimental period. Number of bands on DGGE profiles decreased with dates of sampling so that the microbial population became less diverse because of the iron oxidizing operation. There was a wide variety of bacterial species of even though conditions were strongly acidic.