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Effective Oxygen Diffusion Coefficient of Till and Green Liquor Dregs (GLD) Mixes Used in Sealing Layer in Mine Waste Covers

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Abstract

Cover systems can efficiently limit acid mine drainage generation from sulfidic mine wastes by controlling oxygen diffusion. Their performance relies on their high degree of saturation, as oxygen diffusion is substantially reduced in water or saturated medium. However, natural soils available in the mine vicinities do not necessarily have the hydrogeological properties required for the construction of sealing layers. A common strategy is to improve the characteristics of local soils using bentonite amendment, but this usually induces high costs and environmental footprint. An alternative is to reuse (or valorise) waste materials, such as mine wastes or industrial wastes like green liquor dregs (GLD). Blends of till and GLD can have advantageous properties regarding water retention capacity and hydraulic conductivity. In this study, the effective oxygen diffusion coefficient De of till-GLD blends was evaluated using 81 diffusion tests. Various quantities and different types of GLD were tested. The diffusion coefficient was found to vary greatly depending on the degree of saturation. Even though the GLD contained naturally a substantial amount of water, a high water content of the till was still required to reach a low De. Measurements were also compared with modified Millington-Shearer predictive model which could generally predict the diffusion coefficient within an acceptable range. Results also indicated that the till-GLD mixes should not be exposed to evaporation as significant performance loss may rapidly occur upon drying. Main experimental results are presented in this paper together with recommendations in terms of cover design using till-GLD mixes.

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Funding

The project was financed by Mistra’s program “Closing the loop” (project GLAD), and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 730305 (project Paperchain). The internship at Polytechnique Montreal was financed by Prof. Pabst personal starting grant and GeoRes Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) project (H2020-MSCA-RISE-2017) of the EC under grant agreement no. 778120. The authors would also like to thank the industrial partners of the Research Institute on Mines and Environment (RIME) UQAT-Polytechnique.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden

    Anna Virolainen & Christian Maurice

  2. Ramböll, Luleå, Sweden

    Christian Maurice

  3. Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Canada

    Thomas Pabst

  4. Research Institute on Mines and Environment (RIME), Montreal, Canada

    Thomas Pabst

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  1. Anna Virolainen
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  2. Christian Maurice
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Correspondence to Thomas Pabst.

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Virolainen, A., Maurice, C. & Pabst, T. Effective Oxygen Diffusion Coefficient of Till and Green Liquor Dregs (GLD) Mixes Used in Sealing Layer in Mine Waste Covers. Water Air Soil Pollut 231, 60 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-020-4431-3

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