.

ISSN 2063-5346
For urgent queries please contact : +918130348310

Identification of Sources of Acidic Mine Drainage produced by Oxidation of CuFeS2 due to copper mining activity using Energy Dispersive X-ray and K- means clustering.

Main Article Content

Anoop Kant Shukla (*), Manoj Pradhan(a) and Onkar Nath Tiwari(b)
» doi: 10.48047/ecb/2023.12.10.157

Abstract

Rock mass is extracted from its initial location in the lithosphere as a result of mining activities. This activity results in Acidic Mine Drainage (AMD), which is produced due to oxidation of Pyrite bearing rock mass upon exposure to environmental influences such as air, water, and microorganisms. AMD is a source of heavy metals because of its high solubility and acidic nature. This metal-rich discharge travels to surrounding places through numerous drainage channels. In order to evaluate the pollution, this study measured the metal content of 10 sample locations. Energy dispersive X-ray was used to evaluate the samples for Copper (Cu), Manganese (Mn), Chromium (Cr), Cobalt (Co), Zinc (Zn) and Nickel (Ni). The correlation analysis of contamination level indicated the Copper in samples was highest and varied inversely with distance from the source. The correlation study also showed that the replacement of Manganese by Copper in the samples can occurs in presence of AMD. Two significant clusters in the dataset were found using K-means clustering. The samples were successfully divided into sources of AMD using the K-means clustering technique. Tailing Storage Facility and Mine Waste Dumps were found to be the research area's prospective AMD sites. Polluted areas were located close to mine waste dumps and tailing storage facilities, according to copper mapping. This research exposes and assesses the contamination brought on by acid mine drainage as a result of mining operations.

Article Details