Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.1
2.2
Journals
Minerals
Special Issues
Biogeochemistry Process of Acid Mine Drainage and Effects on Materials...
share announcement

Biogeochemistry Process of Acid Mine Drainage and Effects on Materials Alteration

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2022) | Viewed by 8015

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. María Santisteban

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Water, Mining and Environment, Scientific and Technological Center of Huelva, University of Huelva, 21007 Huelva, Spain
Interests: water pollution; hydrochemical quality indices; mining waste; sustainable mining; modelling polluting processes; restoration
Dr. Juan Carlos Fortes Garrido

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Water, Mining and Environment, Scientific and Technological Center of Huelva, University of Huelva, 21007 Huelva, Spain
Interests: mining waste; sustainable mining; modelling pollution processes; mechanical engineering; automotive engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The mining of polymetallic sulphides, and more particularly iron sulphides, generates an acidic leachate with a high concentration of sulphates and dissolved metals called acid mine drainage (AMD). AMD represents a worldwide problem, not only because of the pollution it produces which directly affects the environment, but also because of the amount of indirect problems it generates.

The incorporation of acid drainages from mining operations to river networks is the main factor responsible for the modification of the physical-chemical characteristics of the channels, increasing the acidity of their waters as well as their heavy metal and sulphate contents, until they reach extremely high values. It is known from the scientific literature that AMD produces structurally simple ecosystems dominated by acidophilic and acid-tolerant organisms, both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The activity of these extremophile microorganisms in AMD environments considerably increases the rate of degradation of water through these processes.

An important problem for mining companies that exploit polymetallic sulphides is the corrosion suffered by the machinery and tools necessary to cover the inherent needs in the phases of the exploitation project. Water storage is a constant in mining operations, both to meet the needs of mining towns and mineral treatment plants, and to collect water already affected by AMD. Likewise, for industrial use, it is common to dam waters affected by AMD processes that have pH values less than 4. In addition, there are a significant number of urban and rural areas that are settled in abandoned mining areas affected by the same problem. These mechanical and structural elements interact with acidic waters (pH < 4) and dissolved metals in mining leachate (high concentrations of sulphates, metals and extremophile microorganisms), affecting their durability. The dissolution of the constituent phases of the concrete, oxidation of the metallic materials and the precipitation and formation of secondary minerals will be the dominant reactions to determine the alteration and durability of these materials.

Prof. Dr. María Santisteban
Dr. Juan Carlos Fortes Garrido
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • acid mine drainage
  • acidity
  • ecological indicators metals
  • pollution
  • corrosion
  • bacterial activity

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

12 pages, 2094 KiB  
Article
Biocorrosion of Carbon Steel under Controlled Laboratory Conditions
by Francisco Córdoba and Aguasanta M. Sarmiento
Minerals 2023, 13(5), 598; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13050598 - 26 Apr 2023
Viewed by 1599
Abstract
In the Iberian Pyritic Belt (SW Europe), Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is the consequence of the interaction of physical-chemical and biological factors, where aerobic Fe and/or S oxidizing chemolithotrophic and anaerobic sulfate reducing bacteria play an essential role. As a result, the polluted [...] Read more.
In the Iberian Pyritic Belt (SW Europe), Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is the consequence of the interaction of physical-chemical and biological factors, where aerobic Fe and/or S oxidizing chemolithotrophic and anaerobic sulfate reducing bacteria play an essential role. As a result, the polluted waters are highly acidic (pH 2–3) and contain numerous dissolved or suspended metals, which gives them a powerful corrosive action on constructions related to mining activities with high economic losses. To verify the role of bacteria in the corrosion of carbon steel, a common material in buildings exposed to corrosion in acidic waters, several experiments have been carried out under controlled conditions using carbon steel bars and acidic water containing bacteria consortia from an AMD river of the Iberian Pyritic Belt. In all the experiments carried out, a remarkable oxidation of supplemented iron was observed in the presence of bacteria. Using carbon steel as the sole iron source, we observed a slight corrosion of the bars, but when culture media was supplemented with elemental sulfur, steel bars was severely damaged. Since the bacteria inoculum come from the surface water, well oxygenated, nutrient-poor river, the obtained results are discussed based on facultative metabolism of acidophilic chemolithotrophic bacteria. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biogeochemistry Process of Acid Mine Drainage and Effects on Materials Alteration)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 2663 KiB  
Article
A Real-Time, Non-Invasive Technique for Visualizing the Effects of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) on Soybean
by Danyang Li, Uma Maheswari Rajagopalan, Hirofumi Kadono and Y. Sanath K. De Silva
Minerals 2022, 12(10), 1194; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12101194 - 23 Sep 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1564
Abstract
Acid mine drainage is a serious environmental problem faced by the mining industry globally, causing the contamination of numerous agricultural lands and crops. Against this background, this study aims to investigate the effects of AMD on soybean, one of the major crops. To [...] Read more.
Acid mine drainage is a serious environmental problem faced by the mining industry globally, causing the contamination of numerous agricultural lands and crops. Against this background, this study aims to investigate the effects of AMD on soybean, one of the major crops. To monitor the effects of AMD on soybean quickly and non-destructively, we have proposed a technique called biospeckle optical coherence tomography (bOCT). Soaked soybean seeds were monitored by bOCT, once after 6 h and again after germination, i.e., 48 h, and the results were compared with conventional parameters such as enzyme activity, iron uptake, and seedling length. It was found that bOCT could detect the effects due to the AMD after just 6 h with a decrease in a parameter called bisopeckle contrast that reflects the internal activity of the seeds. On the other hand, the conventional parameters required a week for the effects to appear, and the results from bOCT after six hours were consistent with those obtained by conventional measures. Because of the non-invasive nature of bOCT, requiring only tens of seconds of measurement with an intact, it has not only the potential to screen but could also constantly monitor long-term changes, thus possibly contributing to the study of the effects of AMD on crops. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biogeochemistry Process of Acid Mine Drainage and Effects on Materials Alteration)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 2722 KiB  
Article
Corrosion of Carbon Steel in Extreme Environments by Acid Mine Water: Experimental Study of the Process Using a Factorial Analysis Tool
by Juan Carlos Fortes, Javier Castilla-Gutierrrez, Aguasanta Sarmiento and José Antonio Grande
Minerals 2022, 12(8), 1030; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12081030 - 16 Aug 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2386
Abstract
Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a process resulting from mining activity, which has a potential degrading effect on metallic materials used in machinery and structural installations, mainly carbon steel composites. This work shows how steel is affected and degraded by AMD, as well [...] Read more.
Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a process resulting from mining activity, which has a potential degrading effect on metallic materials used in machinery and structural installations, mainly carbon steel composites. This work shows how steel is affected and degraded by AMD, as well as the physicochemical changes that occur in the solvent as a consequence of the metal corrosion process. For this purpose, thirty specimens were immersed in AMD for thirty weeks and were removed once per week, observing the changes that had occurred both in the metal and in the solvent to which it was exposed. The results show a material degradation with a loss of weight and alterations in the acid drainage with an increase in pH, total dissolved solids (TDS) and modifications in the rest of the solvent characteristics. The data from the measurements of the plates under study, together with the physicochemical data of the resulting reagent solution, were integrated into matrices for subsequent graphical–statistical processing using Statgraphics Centurion software, a powerful tool for exploratory data analysis, statistical summary, analysis of variance, statistical control, multivariate analysis, time series, etc., and which allows the different variables studied to be classified into categories or proximity ratios. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biogeochemistry Process of Acid Mine Drainage and Effects on Materials Alteration)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 3842 KiB  
Article
Hydrochemical Characterization of an Acid Mine Effluent from Concepcion Mine Using Classical Statistic and Fuzzy Logic Techniques
by María Santisteban, Ana Teresa Luís, José Antonio Grande, Javier Aroba, José Miguel Dávila, Aguasanta Miguel Sarmiento, Juan Carlos Fortes, Francisco Cordoba and Ángel Mariano Rodriguez-Pérez
Minerals 2022, 12(4), 464; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12040464 - 11 Apr 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1881
Abstract
This work focuses on the physical-chemical characterization of a mining effluent affected by acid mine drainage (AMD) from its source to the confluence in the Odiel river, one of the most polluted rivers by AMD worldwide, in order to understand the reactions involved [...] Read more.
This work focuses on the physical-chemical characterization of a mining effluent affected by acid mine drainage (AMD) from its source to the confluence in the Odiel river, one of the most polluted rivers by AMD worldwide, in order to understand the reactions involved in the modifications in the chemical characteristics of water and precipitates resulting from water–rock–atmosphere interaction in an environment highly affected by mining activity without corrective measures. The channel starts in an open pit lake through one of the Concepción Mine main galleries, located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, about 10 km northwest of Rio Tinto mining complex (southwest Spain). This gallery intercepts one of the largest and oldest underground mining work locations called “gallery Carmen”, allowing the exit of AMD affected waters. This channel is the first AMD polluting source in the Odiel basin. Thus, at the end of the rainy season, we conducted water sampling along this channel, from its source to its mouth, to further analyse its characterization and interpret the cause–effect relationships through the application of Fuzzy Logic and classical statistics tools. The interdependent relationship between the measured physicochemical parameters are set in order to propose a model, capable of describing the evolution of contaminants in response to the processes and reactions taking place within the affected channel and the Odiel river. The present work concluded the existence of natural attenuation processes for the mining channel, despite the entrances of other drainages in the AMD channel with different hydrochemical characteristics imposing modifications on it. This indicates that these media have a high vulnerability to external stimuli. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biogeochemistry Process of Acid Mine Drainage and Effects on Materials Alteration)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop