Dear Colleagues,

The impacts of open pit mining are very much dependent on the climatic and topographic environment of the site, as well as the geochemistry of the materials exposed by mining and mineral processing. Open pit mining does not produce salinity; salts exist naturally in the soil/rock profile. What mining and processing does produce is a concentration of salinity, usually through the evaporation of ponded mine-affected water. The mining of sulfidic orebodies often leads to the exposure of sulfidic waste rock and tailings to oxygen and rainfall ingress, potentially resulting in acid and metalliferous drainage. Open pit mines typically have a zero (water) discharge condition imposed upon them, which necessitates that all mine-affected water be stored on site, where it accumulates and becomes saline (and possibly acidic) due to evaporation-induced concentration. This almost guarantees closure and rehabilitation difficulties, in net positive water balance climates in which excessive mine-affected water is generated, and in net negative water balance climates in which salts and oxidation products are flushed to a dry climatic environment by rainfall events. Sites that have natural marginally net positive water balances can be rendered net negative and contaminating due to the residual surface voids and waste storages left by mining and processing. Pit lakes in a net negative water balance climate will inevitably turn increasingly saline and/or acidic, and/or alkaline, and there is unlikely to be enough fresh water available to flush them. Articles that address practical strategies for managing water balance and quality at open pit mines are sought for a Special Issue of Water.

Prof. David J. Williams
Guest Editor

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• Acid and metalliferous drainage
• Mine water balance
• Mine water quality
• Practical water management strategies at open pit mines
• Mining-induced salinity
• Water management at open pit mines