Mining-Related Selenium Contamination in Alaska, and the State of Current Knowledge
Abstract
:1. Introduction
Chemistry, Environmental Fate, and Effects of Selenium
2. Historical Relevance of Selenium in Mining Industry
3. Selenium Treatment Technologies
3.1. Physical Treatment
3.2. Chemical Treatment
3.3. Biological Treatment
4. Overview of Selenium in Alaskan Mines
5. Future Directions
6. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
ABMet | The Advanced Biological Metals Removal Process |
ADEC | Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation |
ADNR | Alaska Department of Natural Resources |
EPA | Environmental Protection Agency |
FBR | Fluidized Bed Reactor |
MCL | Maximum contaminant level |
RO | Reverse Osmosis |
ZVI | Zero-Valent iron |
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Criteria Version | Egg-Ovary (mg/kg dw a) | Whole Body (mg/kg dw a) | Muscle (mg/kg dw a) | Water Lentic (µg/L) | Water Lotic (µg/L) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | 15.1 | 8.5 | 11.3 | 1.5 (30 day) | 3.1 (30 day) |
Material or Waste | Se Concentration | References |
---|---|---|
Surface waters | 0.2 µg/L | [1] |
Agricultural drainage water | 140–1400 µg/L | [11] |
Copper ore | 20–82 µg/g | [12] |
Mining wastewater | 3–12 µg/L | [13] |
Coal | 0.4–24 µg/g | [12] |
Coal mining pond water | 8.8–389 µg/L | [14] |
Gold mine wastewater | 0.2–33 µg/L | [15] |
Uranium mine wastewater | 1600 µg/L | [15] |
Oil shale | 1.3–5.2 µg/g | [1] |
Crude shale oils | 92–540 µg/L | [1] |
Crude oil | 500–2200 µg/L | [1] |
Refined oils | 5–258 µg/L | [1] |
Oil refinery wastewater | 15–75 µg/L | [1] |
Phosphate ore | 2–20 µg/g | [16] |
Category | Treatment Technology | Test Scale | Treatment Performance | Location of Test | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Physical | Reverse osmosis | Full scale | Effective levels below 5 µg/L; Reduced concentration from 12–22 µg/L to 2 µg/L | Barrick’s Richmond Hill Mine, SD, USA | [21] |
Activated Alumina Adsorption | Lab Scale | Selenium was adsorbed over pH range 3–7 for concentrations of 100–200 µg/L | Municipal Environmental Research Lab, OH, USA | [22] | |
Nanofiltration | Lab and field scale | Up to 95% selenium removal from highly contaminated agricultural drainage (up to 1000 µg/L) | Los Banos, California, USA (Lab scale), Kennecott South, UT, USA (Field Scale) | [23] | |
Ferrihydrite adsorption | Full scale | Reduction from 1950 µg/L to 90 µg/L | KUCC Garfield Wetlands-Kessler Springs, UT, USA | [24] | |
Ion-exchange (physicochemical) | Lab scale | Reduction from 1 g/L to 0.1 mg/L | Kennecott Mining Company, Boyle Engineering Corp, USA | [18] | |
Chemical | Precipitation | Full scale | Reduction from 0.213 mg/L to 0.014 mg/L | Cameco’s Key Lake Operation, Canada | [25] |
Cupric co-precipitation | Lab scale | Precipitation of Selenocyanate from petroleum refinery process | University of Grenoble, France and Unocal Corporation, CA, USA | [26] | |
Electrocoagulation | Lab scale | Reduction from 2.32 mg/L to 0.03 mg/L | University of Mining and Geology, Bulgaria and Saarland University, Germany | [27] | |
Zero- valent iron | Full scale | Reduction of influent selenium drop from 19 to 4.7 µg/L | West Virginia coal mines, Phosphate mine in Idaho, USA | [28] | |
Fixed bed adsorption | Pilot scale and full scale | Reduction from 0.07–0.86 mg/L to 1–11 µg/L | Cameco Resources Smith Ranch-Highland operation, WY, USA | [29] | |
Cementation | Lab scale | Reduction from 1950 µg/L to below 5 µg/L | University of Montana, MT, USA | [24] | |
Biological | Algal-bacterial | Lab scale | Reduction from 300–500 ppb to 0–100 ppb | University of California, Berkeley, USA | [30] |
Algal volatilization | Lab scale | Approximately reduction by 23% | University of California, Riverside, USA | [30] | |
Microbial reduction | Full scale | Reduction from 70 µg/L to 4.6 µg/L | Golder, Closed mine in South Dakota, USA | [31] | |
Fluidized bed reactor treatment | Pilot scale | Achieved less than 4.7 µg/L in effluent | West Virginia, USA | [32] | |
ABMet | Pilot scale and full scale | Reduction from 20–300 µg/L (influent Selenium) to 0.7–2.0 µg/L (effluent Selenium) | British Columbia, Canada (pilot scale), West Virginia, USA (full scale) | [28] | |
Biochemical reactor | Full scale | Inlet concentrations of 180 µg/L decreased to effluent concentrations from 3 to 33 µg/L | Alberta, Canada | [18] |
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Khamkhash, A.; Srivastava, V.; Ghosh, T.; Akdogan, G.; Ganguli, R.; Aggarwal, S. Mining-Related Selenium Contamination in Alaska, and the State of Current Knowledge. Minerals 2017, 7, 46. https://doi.org/10.3390/min7030046
Khamkhash A, Srivastava V, Ghosh T, Akdogan G, Ganguli R, Aggarwal S. Mining-Related Selenium Contamination in Alaska, and the State of Current Knowledge. Minerals. 2017; 7(3):46. https://doi.org/10.3390/min7030046
Chicago/Turabian StyleKhamkhash, Aibyek, Vaibhav Srivastava, Tathagata Ghosh, Guven Akdogan, Rajive Ganguli, and Srijan Aggarwal. 2017. "Mining-Related Selenium Contamination in Alaska, and the State of Current Knowledge" Minerals 7, no. 3: 46. https://doi.org/10.3390/min7030046