Acid Rock Drainage: A Case Study
Mining activities have been taking place on our earth since pre-historic times. Along with agriculture, both are considered to be man’s earliest occupations; in which agriculture occurred earlier than mining. The term mining here refers to widest context that encompass the extraction of all naturally occurring mineral substances from the earth.
Mining has an important role throughout human civilization history. For example, in the Industrial Revolution during the 19th and 20th centuries, coal is known to be the primary source of energy. Today, coal is still being used particularly in China, as it is a major source of energy in China. Other forms of mining commodities are also widely used as a basic element to produce many kinds of industrial
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Mining that takes place below the water table could lead to water entering the mine site. Sources of water entering mine site are for example rainfall-runoff, groundwater and runoff/seepage from any surface water. These water, if not treated properly could lead to the forming of acid mine drainage (also called acid rock drainage).
In a general context, Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) refers to natural processes where acidic water is formed when sulphides mineral in rocks are exposed to air and water, while AMD is basically the same process as ARD but in a greater quantity and effects (SDWF, 2008). In mining context, the term “Acid Mine Drainage (AMD)” is commonly used for coal mining, while the term “Acid Rock Drainage (ARD)” is usually used in the context of ore mining (Gautama, 2012). All in all, AMD or ARD is water that is acidic, which pH indicates a high acidity (often below
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Different types of mining such as coal mining and copper mining are very prone to the forming of acid mine drainage, unless preventions and/or treatments of waste water is prepared and successfully done. The disposal of wastewater from coal mining is one of problematic environmental issues of water pollution (Tiwary, 2000). When waste water not treated carefully, the problem of acid mine drainage can last to even hundreds of years (Gautama,
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