NDLI: Arsenic speciation and mobility in surface water at Lucky Shot Gold Mine, Alaska

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Torrance, Keith Keenan, Helen Munk, LeeAnn Hagedorn, Birgit
Copyright Year	2012
Abstract	Historical mining in Alaska has created a legacy of approximately 6,830 abandoned mine sites which include adits, tailing piles and contaminated land that continue to impact surface and groundwater quality through run-off and leaching of potentially toxic metals, especially arsenic (As). One such site is the Lucky Shot Gold Mine in Hatcher Pass, south-central Alaska, which operated from 1920 until 1942, mining gold-bearing quartz veins hosted in a Cretaceous tonalite intrusion. Arsenopyrite (FeAsS) and pyrite (FeS2) present in the quartz veins contribute to elevated As levels in water draining, abandoned mine adits. As future underground mining at Lucky Shot may further adversely impact water quality, baseline geochemical studies were undertaken to assess As mobility in the vicinity of the mine adits. Water samples were collected from streams, adits and boreholes around the mine and analysed for major and minor elements using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and for anions by ion chromatography (IC). Arsenic species separation was performed in the field to determine the ratio of inorganic As(III)/As(V) using anion-exchange chromatography, following established methods. It was determined that water draining the adits had elevated levels of As roughly seventy times the United States Environmental Protection Agency Drinking Water Standard of 10 μg L−1, although this was rapidly diluted downstream in Craigie Creek to <2 μg L−1. Adit and surface water pH was circum-neutral and displayed no characteristics of acid mine drainage. Despite being well oxygenated, As(III) is the dominant As species in adit water, accounting for close to 100 % of total As. The proportion of As(V) increases downstream of the adits, as some As(III) is oxidized, but the speciation enhances arsenic mobility at the site. The δ18O measurements indicate that the water in the system has a short residence time as it is very similar to meteoric water, supporting the observation that the predominance of As(III) in adit water results from the lack of thermodynamical equilibrium being attained and preferential absorbance of As(V).
Starting Page	711
Ending Page	723
Page Count	13
File Format	PDF
ISSN	02694042
Journal	Environmental Geochemistry and Health
Volume Number	34
Issue Number	6
e-ISSN	15732983
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2012-09-22
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Arsenic Speciation Mining ICP-MS Tailings Drinking water quality Terrestrial Pollution Environmental Chemistry Soil Science & Conservation Geochemistry Environmental Health Public Health
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Environmental Chemistry Medicine Geochemistry and Petrology Environmental Engineering Water Science and Technology

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