Microbial processes with the potential to mobilize As from a circumneutral-pH mixture of flotation and roaster tailings

Eva Pakostova; David M. Hilger; David W. Blowes; Carol J. Ptacek

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-50435-3

Microbial processes with the potential to mobilize As from a circumneutral-pH mixture of flotation and roaster tailings

Eva Pakostova, David M. Hilger, David W. Blowes, Carol J. Ptacek

Centre for Manufacturing and Materials

University of Waterloo

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

17 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The Northwest Tailings Containment Area at the inactive Giant Mine (Canada) contains a complex mixture of arsenic-containing substances, including flotation tailings (84.8 wt%; with 0.4 wt% residual S), roaster calcine wastes (14.4 wt% Fe oxides), and arsenic trioxide (0.8 wt%) derived from an electrostatic precipitator as well as As-containing water (21.3 ± 4.1 mg L−1 As) derived from the underground mine workings. In the vadose zone the tailings pore water has a pH of 7.6 and contains elevated metal(loid)s (2.37 ± 5.90 mg L−1 As); mineral oxidizers account for 2.5% of total 16S rRNA reads in solid samples. In the underlying saturated tailings, dissolved Fe and As concentrations increase with depth (up to 72 and 20 mg L−1, respectively), and the mean relative abundance of Fe(III)-reducers is 0.54% of total reads. The potential for As mobilization via both reductive and oxidative (bio)processes should be considered in Giant Mine remediation activities. The current remediation plan includes installation of an engineered cover that incorporates a geosynthetic barrier layer.

Original language	English
Article number	23048
Number of pages	10
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	13
Issue number	1
Early online date	27 Dec 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-50435-3
Publication status	Published - Dec 2023

Bibliographical note

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Funder

Funding for this research was provided by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC), the NSERC TERRE-NET program (grant NETGP 479,708–15), and the Northern Scientific Training Program. The authors gratefully acknowledge logistical support provided by Parsons Corporation and Nuna Logistics Limited. This research used resources of the Canadian Light Source (CLS) and its funding partners with assistance provided by Scott Coleville (CLS) and Joyce McBeth (Universities of Regina and Saskatchewan). We are grateful for technical assistance provided by Jeff Bain, Daniel Birch, Lisa Kester, Steven P. Holland, Laura Groza, Joy Hu, Sara Fellin, David Wilson, and Krista Elena (all from the University of Waterloo).

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Cite this

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abstract = "The Northwest Tailings Containment Area at the inactive Giant Mine (Canada) contains a complex mixture of arsenic-containing substances, including flotation tailings (84.8 wt%; with 0.4 wt% residual S), roaster calcine wastes (14.4 wt% Fe oxides), and arsenic trioxide (0.8 wt%) derived from an electrostatic precipitator as well as As-containing water (21.3 ± 4.1 mg L−1 As) derived from the underground mine workings. In the vadose zone the tailings pore water has a pH of 7.6 and contains elevated metal(loid)s (2.37 ± 5.90 mg L−1 As); mineral oxidizers account for 2.5% of total 16S rRNA reads in solid samples. In the underlying saturated tailings, dissolved Fe and As concentrations increase with depth (up to 72 and 20 mg L−1, respectively), and the mean relative abundance of Fe(III)-reducers is 0.54% of total reads. The potential for As mobilization via both reductive and oxidative (bio)processes should be considered in Giant Mine remediation activities. The current remediation plan includes installation of an engineered cover that incorporates a geosynthetic barrier layer.",

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Microbial processes with the potential to mobilize As from a circumneutral-pH mixture of flotation and roaster tailings

Abstract

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