Leachability of Arsenic and Heavy Metals from Mine Tailings of Abandoned Metal Mines

Mihee Lim, Gi-Chun Han, Ji-Whan Ahn, Kwang-Suk You and Hyung-Seok Kim
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Mihee Lim: Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), 92 Gwahang-no, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-350, Korea
Gi-Chun Han: Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), 92 Gwahang-no, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-350, Korea
Ji-Whan Ahn: Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), 92 Gwahang-no, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-350, Korea
Kwang-Suk You: Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), 92 Gwahang-no, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-350, Korea
Hyung-Seok Kim: Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), 92 Gwahang-no, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-350, Korea

IJERPH, 2009, vol. 6, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: Mine tailings from an abandoned metal mine in Korea contained high concentrations of arsenic (As) and heavy metals [e.g., As: 67,336, Fe: 137,180, Cu: 764, Pb: 3,572, and Zn: 12,420 (mg/kg)]. US EPA method 6010 was an effective method for analyzing total arsenic and heavy metals concentrations. Arsenic in the mine tailings showed a high residual fraction of 89% by a sequential extraction. In Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) and Korean Standard Leaching Test (KSLT), leaching concentrations of arsenic and heavy metals were very low [e.g., As (mg/L): 0.4 for TCLP and 0.2 for KSLT; cf. As criteria (mg/L): 5.0 for TCLP and 1.5 for KSLT].

Keywords: mine tailings; abandoned mines; arsenic (As); heavy metals; sequential extraction; EPA method 6010; Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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