Water quality in pit lakes in disseminated gold deposits compared to two natural, terminal lakes in Nevada |
| |
| Authors: | L A Shevenell |
| |
| Institution: | (1) Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, University of Nevada, MS 178, Reno, NV 89557-0088, USA e-mail: lisaas@unr.edu, Tel: 775-784-1779 Fax: 775-784-1709, US |
| |
| Abstract: | Within the next 10–15 years, over 35 mines in Nevada will have a lake in their open pit mines after dewatering and cessation
of mining. Of the ten past or existing pit lakes at eight different gold mines for which temporal data are available, most
had near neutral pH, yet most had at least one constituent (e.g., As, SO4, TDS) that exceeded drinking water standards for at least one sampling event. Most samples from pit lakes had TDS exceeding
drinking water standards, but lower than that in the natural Pyramid (TDS≈5,500 mg/l) and Walker (TDS≈14,000 mg/l) Lakes.
In the past century, salinity increased in both natural, terminal lakes, in part due to irrigation withdrawals and evapoconcentration.
The salinity in the pit lakes may also increase through time via evapoconcentration. However, water balance models indicate
that up to 132% (Walker Lake) of the total yearly inflow evaporates from the terminal lakes, whereas steady-state may be reached
in the pit lakes modelled, where evaporative losses account for only ≈6% of the total pit lake volume annually and ≈100% of
the net inflow (groundwater inflow minus outflow, precipitation and runoff into the lake). The effects of evapoconcentration
are expected to be less significant at most pit lakes than at the natural, terminal lakes because (1) evaporation rates are
lower at many pit lakes because they are located at higher elevations than the terminal lakes, and (2) the surface area to
depth ratio of the pit lakes is >1000 times smaller than that of the terminal lakes.
Received: 1 March 1999 · Accepted: 13 April 1999 |
| |
| Keywords: | Pit lakes Water quality Mining Gold deposits |
| 本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ |
|
