<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">An effective remediation strategy for a polluted site should take the absolute amount of the pollutant(s) into account. Here, we present an elemental budget for As, Sb and Fe in two tailing impoundments of the former Sb-Au deposit near Pezinok, Slovakia. The two impoundments contain 5,740×103 kg As, 6,360×103 kg Sb and 50,105×103 kg Fe. An estimated total Au content in the impoundments is 132 kg. The most abundant minerals in the tailings are quartz, illite, and chlorite. The content of carbonates in the tailings is 3.5-10.5 wt% calcite equivalent and we estimate that the carbonates are sufficiently abundant to buffer the pH at circumneutral values, up to the point when all pyrite decomposes. The possible courses of action are i) do nothing, ii) build an active barrier to capture the released As and Sb, iii) isolate the impoundments from rain and ground water and iv) use the impoundments as a source of Sb and redeposit the waste in a safer form. The simplest approach is to do nothing, which seems to be the most likely course of events, given the current economic, political and societal state of the Slovak Republic. Although this action costs nothing in the short term, it may cause significant damage to the environment, especially to the alluvial sediments and associated water resources in the long term.</abstract>

An effective remediation strategy for a polluted site should take the absolute amount of the pollutant(s) into account. Here, we present an elemental budget for As, Sb and Fe in two tailing impoundments of the former Sb-Au deposit near Pezinok, Slovakia. The two impoundments contain 5,740×103 kg As, 6,360×103 kg Sb and 50,105×103 kg Fe. An estimated total Au content in the impoundments is 132 kg. The most abundant minerals in the tailings are quartz, illite, and chlorite. The content of carbonates in the tailings is 3.5-10.5 wt% calcite equivalent and we estimate that the carbonates are sufficiently abundant to buffer the pH at circumneutral values, up to the point when all pyrite decomposes. The possible courses of action are i) do nothing, ii) build an active barrier to capture the released As and Sb, iii) isolate the impoundments from rain and ground water and iv) use the impoundments as a source of Sb and redeposit the waste in a safer form. The simplest approach is to do nothing, which seems to be the most likely course of events, given the current economic, political and societal state of the Slovak Republic. Although this action costs nothing in the short term, it may cause significant damage to the environment, especially to the alluvial sediments and associated water resources in the long term.

Elemental and mineral inventory of tailing impoundments near Pezinok, Slovakia and possible courses of action for their remediation

Institute of Geosciences, Friedrich-Schiller University, Burgweg 11, Jena, D-07749 Germany

Institute of Geosciences, Albert-Ludwig University, Albertstraße 23b, Freiburg, D-79104, Germany

Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, Mlynská dolina G, Comenius University, Bratislava, SK-842 15, Slovakia

Department of Zoology and Anthropology, Constantine the Philosopher University, Nábrežie Mládeže 91, SK-949 74 Nitra, Slovakia

Department of Geology of Mineral Deposits, Mlynská dolina G, Comenius University, Bratislava, SK-842 15, Slovakia

Mineralogia

An effective remediation strategy for a polluted site should take the absolute amount of the pollutant(s) into account. Here, we present an elemental budget...

Elemental and mineral inventory of tailing impoundments near Pezinok, Slovakia and possible courses of action for their remediation

Published Online: Feb 23, 2011

Page range: 55 - 74

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/v10002-010-0005-0

Keywords
impoundments, Pezinok, remediation, arsenic, antimony

This content is open access.

Elemental and mineral inventory of tailing impoundments near Pezinok, Slovakia and possible courses of action for their remediation

Published Online: Feb 23, 2011

Page range: 55 - 74

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/v10002-010-0005-0

Keywordsimpoundments, Pezinok, remediation, arsenic, antimony

This content is open access.

Keywords
impoundments, Pezinok, remediation, arsenic, antimony