Assessing Options for Remediation of Contaminated Mine Site Drainage Entering the River Teign, Southwest England

Jordan, Abigail; Hill, Rachel; Turner, Adrienne; Roberts, Tyrone; Comber, Sean

doi:10.3390/min10080721

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Assessing Options for Remediation of Contaminated Mine Site Drainage Entering the River Teign, Southwest England

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School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drakes Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK

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Minerals 2020, 10(8), 721; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10080721

Received: 10 July 2020 / Revised: 11 August 2020 / Accepted: 13 August 2020 / Published: 17 August 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Use of Abandoned Mines)

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Abstract

The river Teign in Devon has come under scrutiny for failing to meet environmental quality standards for ecotoxic metals due to past mining operations. A disused mine known as Bridford Barytes mine, has been found to contribute a significant source of Zn, Cd and Pb to the river. Recently, studies have been focused on the remediation of such mine sites using low-cost treatment methods to help reduce metal loads to the river downstream. This paper explores the metal removal efficiency of red mud, a waste product from the aluminium industry, which has proven to be an attractive low-cost treatment method for adsorbing toxic metals. Adsorption kinetics and capacity experiments reveal metal removal efficiencies of up to 70% within the first 2 h when red mud is applied in pelletized form. Further, it highlights the potential of biochar, another effective adsorbent observed to remove >90% Zn using agricultural feedstock. Compliance of the Teign has been investigated by analysing dissolved metal concentrations and bioavailable fractions of Zn to assess if levels are of environmental concern. By applying a real-world application model, this study reveals that compressed pellets and agricultural biochar offer an effective, low-cost option to reducing metal concentrations and thus improving the quality of the river Teign. View Full-Text

Keywords: trace metals; mine remediation; zinc; red media; biochar

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Jordan, A.; Hill, R.; Turner, A.; Roberts, T.; Comber, S. Assessing Options for Remediation of Contaminated Mine Site Drainage Entering the River Teign, Southwest England. Minerals 2020, 10, 721. https://doi.org/10.3390/min10080721

AMA Style

Jordan A, Hill R, Turner A, Roberts T, Comber S. Assessing Options for Remediation of Contaminated Mine Site Drainage Entering the River Teign, Southwest England. Minerals. 2020; 10(8):721. https://doi.org/10.3390/min10080721

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jordan, Abigail, Rachel Hill, Adrienne Turner, Tyrone Roberts, and Sean Comber. 2020. "Assessing Options for Remediation of Contaminated Mine Site Drainage Entering the River Teign, Southwest England" Minerals 10, no. 8: 721. https://doi.org/10.3390/min10080721

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Assessing Options for Remediation of Contaminated Mine Site Drainage Entering the River Teign, Southwest England

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