Geochemical audit of a historical tailings storage facility in Japan: Acid mine drainage formation, zinc migration and mitigation strategies

Historical tailings storage facilities (TSFs) are either abandoned or sparsely rehabilitated promoting acid mine drainage (AMD) formation and heavy metal release. To sustainably manage these sites, a geochemical audit coupled with numerical simulation to predict AMD flow paths and heavy metal migration are valuable. In this study, a 40-year-old TSF in Hokkaido, Japan was investigated. Tailings in this historical TSF contain pyrite (FeS2) while its copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) contents were 1400-6440 mg/kg and 2800-22,300 mg/kg, respectively. Copper and Zn were also easily released in leaching tests because they are partitioned with the exchangeable phase (29% of Zn; 15% of Cu) and oxidizable fraction (25% of Zn; 33% of Cu). Kinetic modeling results attributed AMD formation to the interactions of pyrite and soluble phases in the tailings with oxygenated groundwater, which is supported by the sequential extraction and leaching results. Calibrations of groundwater/AMD flow and solute transport in the 2D reactive transport model were successfully done using hydraulic heads measured onsite and leaching results, respectively. The model forecasted the quality of AMD to deteriorate with time and AMD formation to continue for 1000 years. It also predicted similar to 24% AMD flux reduction, including lower Zn release with time when recharge reduction interventions are implemented on-site.

Automated summary

In this study, a 40-year-old tailings storage facility in Hokkaido, Japan was investigated to understand the formation of acid mine drainage (AMD) and heavy metal migration. The study utilized a geochemical audit and numerical simulation to predict AMD flow paths and heavy metal release. The results showed that the interaction between pyrite in the tailings and oxygenated groundwater led to the formation of AMD.