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Liu, Z.; Li, C.; Tan, K.; Li, Y.; Tan, W.; Li, X.; Zhang, C.; Meng, S.; Liu, L. |
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Title |
Study of natural attenuation after acid in situ leaching of uranium mines using isotope fractionation and geochemical data |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2023 |
Publication |
Science of The Total Environment |
Abbreviated Journal |
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Volume |
865 |
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161033 |
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Keywords |
Acid in situ leaching, Geochemical and isotopic tracing, Groundwater contamination, Natural attenuation, Uranium post-mining |
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Abstract |
Acid in situ leaching (AISL) is a subsurface mining approach suitable for low-grade ores which does not generate tailings, and has been adopted widely in uranium mining. However, this technique causes an extremely high concentration of contaminants at post-mining sites and in the surroundings soon after the mining ceases. As a potential AISL remediation strategy, natural attenuation has not been studied in detail. To address this problem, groundwater collected from 26 wells located within, adjacent, upgradient, and downgradient of a post-mining site were chosen to analyze the fate of U(VI), SO42−, δ34S, and δ238U, to reveal the main mechanisms governing the migration and attenuation of the dominant contaminants and the spatio-temporal evolutions of contaminants in the confined aquifer of the post-mining site. The δ238U values vary from −0.07 ‰ to 0.09 ‰ in the post-mining site and from −1.43 ‰ to 0.03 ‰ around the post-mining site. The δ34S values were found to vary from 3.3 ‰ to 6.2 ‰ in the post-mining site and from 6.0 ‰ to 11.0 ‰ around the post-mining site. Detailed analysis suggests that there are large differences between the range of isotopic composition variation and the range of pollutants concentration distribution, and the estimated Rayleigh isotope fractionation factor is 0.9994–0.9997 for uranium and 1.0032–1.0061 for sulfur. The isotope ratio of uranium and sulfur can be used to deduce the migration history of the contaminants and the irreversibility of the natural attenuation process in the anoxic confined aquifer. Combining the isotopic fractionation data for U and S with the concentrations of uranium and sulfate improved the accuracy of understanding of reducing conditions along the flow path. The study also indicated that as long as the geological conditions are favorable for redox reactions, natural attenuation could be used as a cost-effective remediation scheme. |
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0048-9697 |
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THL @ christoph.kuells @ liu_study_2023 |
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155 |
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Author |
Liu, Z.; Tan, K.; Li, C.; Li, Y.; Zhang, C.; Song, J.; Liu, L. |
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Title |
Geochemical and S isotopic studies of pollutant evolution in groundwater after acid in situ leaching in a uranium mine area in Xinjiang |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2023 |
Publication |
Nuclear Engineering and Technology |
Abbreviated Journal |
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55 |
Issue |
4 |
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1476-1484 |
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Keywords |
Acid in situ leaching of uranium, Pollution evolution, Sulfate elimination, Sulfur isotopes analysis |
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Abstract |
Laboratory experiments and point monitoring of reservoir sediments have proven that stable sulfate reduction (SSR) can lower the concentrations of toxic metals and sulfate in acidic groundwater for a long time. Here, we hypothesize that SSR occurred during in situ leaching after uranium mining, which can impact the fate of acid groundwater in an entire region. To test this, we applied a sulfur isotope fractionation method to analyze the mechanism for natural attenuation of contaminated groundwater produced by acid in situ leaching of uranium (Xinjiang, China). The results showed that δ34S increased over time after the cessation of uranium mining, and natural attenuation caused considerable, area-scale immobilization of sulfur corresponding to retention levels of 5.3%–48.3% while simultaneously decreasing the concentration of uranium. Isotopic evidence for SSR in the area, together with evidence for changes of pollutant concentrations, suggest that area-scale SSR is most likely also important at other acid mining sites for uranium, where retention of acid groundwater may be strengthened through natural attenuation. To recapitulate, the sulfur isotope fractionation method constitutes a relatively accurate tool for quantification of spatiotemporal trends for groundwater during migration and transformation resulting from acid in situ leaching of uranium in northern China. |
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1738-5733 |
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THL @ christoph.kuells @ liu_geochemical_2023 |
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192 |
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Tan, K.; Li, C.; Liu, J.; Qu, H.; Xia, L.; Hu, Y.; Li, Y. |
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Title |
A novel method using a complex surfactant for in-situ leaching of low permeable sandstone uranium deposits |
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2014 |
Publication |
Hydrometallurgy |
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150 |
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99-106 |
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Complex surfactant, In-situ leaching of uranium mining, Leaching kinetics, Low permeable sandstone uranium deposit, Resin adsorption and elution |
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Applications of a complex surfactant developed in-house to in-situ leaching of low permeable sandstone uranium deposits are described based on results from agitation leaching, column leaching, resin adsorption, and elution experiments using uranium containing solution from the in-situ leaching site. The results of agitation leaching experiments show that adding surfactant with different concentrations into leaching solution improves the leaching rate of uranium. The maximum leaching rate of uranium from agitation leaching reached 92.6% at an added surfactant concentration of 10mg/l. Result of column leaching experiment shows that adding surfactant with varying concentrations into leaching solutions increased the permeability coefficient of ore-bearing layer by 42.7–86.8%. The leaching rate of uranium from column leaching increased by 58.0% and reached 85.8%. The result of kinetic analysis shows that for the extraction of uranium controlled by diffusion without surfactant the apparent rate constant 0.0023/d changed to 0.0077/d for the extraction with surfactant controlled by both diffusion and surface chemical reactions. Results from resin adsorption and elution experiments show that there was no influence on resin adsorption and elution of uranium with an addition of 50mg/l surfactant to production solution from in-situ leaching. The adsorption curve, sorption capacity of resin, recycling of resin remained the same as without adding any surfactant. Introducing complex surfactant to leaching solution increased the peak concentration of uranium in eluents, reduced the residual uranium content in resin, and promoted the elution efficiency. The method of using a complex surfactant for in-situ leaching is useful for low permeable sandstone uranium deposits. |
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0304-386x |
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THL @ christoph.kuells @ tan_novel_2014 |
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201 |
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