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Mineral Dust Properties at the Mt Lyell Cu-Au Mine Site, Australia

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posted on 2023-05-22, 17:40 authored by Taryn NobleTaryn Noble, Ronald BerryRonald Berry, Lottermoser, B
Mine sites operating dust monitoring programs use a variety of techniques to comply with legislative constraints and maintain high standards of environmental and human health protection. One low cost option is the use of dust deposition gauges, which provide information on the total, soluble and insoluble dust fluxes. The aim of this study was to identify methods that could provide information on likely dust sources of samples, which were collected using dust deposition gauges at the Mt Lyell Cu-Au mine, Australia. Elemental analyses of archived dust samples combined with known dust deposition rates allowed quantification of annual metal fluxes. The highest annual metal fluxes were measured for Cu (1-33 g m-2 year-1) followed by Pb (8-343 mg m-2 year-1), Cr (3-59 mg m-2 year-1) and As (1-79 mg m-2 year-1). X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy permitted characterization of the mineralogical and morphological properties of dust samples. These analyses revealed that the analysed samples derived from at least four different dust sources. Consequently, geochemical and mineralogical characterization of mineral dust samples combined with a detailed site knowledge allows identification of dust sources at mine sites.

History

Publication title

Environmental Indicators in Metal Mining

Editors

B Lottermoser

Pagination

307-326

ISBN

9783319427294

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

Springer

Place of publication

Switzerland

Extent

22

Rights statement

Copyright 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Expanding knowledge in the earth sciences

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