Three lines of evidence: Using geophysical approaches, geochemical approaches, and visual observation to assess potential leakage of mine water from tailing storage facility of a gold mine in Thailand

PreviousNext You have accessSymposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems 2021Three lines of evidence: Using geophysical approaches, geochemical approaches, and visual observation to assess potential leakage of mine water from tailing storage facility of a gold mine in ThailandAuthors: Tanapon Phenrat*Yuji MitsuhataTakumi UedaYoshishige KawabeYoshiaki KarinoHideyuki SatoWarakorn ManeechuketThitiporn PladboonSirinart LaoharojanaphandKiattipong KhamdeeTanapon Phenrat*Naresuan UniversitySearch for more papers by this author, Yuji MitsuhataNational Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)Search for more papers by this author, Takumi UedaNational Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)Search for more papers by this author, Yoshishige KawabeNational Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)Search for more papers by this author, Yoshiaki KarinoGeolight Co, Ltd.Search for more papers by this author, Hideyuki SatoLand Concierge Co, Ltd.Search for more papers by this author, Warakorn ManeechuketNaresuan UniversitySearch for more papers by this author, Thitiporn PladboonNaresuan UniversitySearch for more papers by this author, Sirinart LaoharojanaphandNuclear Society of ThailandSearch for more papers by this author, and Kiattipong KhamdeeThailand Institute of Nuclear TechnologySearch for more papers by this authorhttps://doi.org/10.4133/sageep.33-050 SectionsAboutPDF/ePub ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Abstract For gold mining, mine waste and wastewater contains high concentration of hazardous substances including cyanide, metals, and metalloids together with high total dissolved solid (TDS). The biggest gold mine (GM) in Thailand was in Pichit Province. According to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report of the GM, cyanide used as a leachant to leach gold and silver from ore would be discharged into the tailing storage facilities (TSF) with a permissible total cyanide concentration of 20 mg/l. The first TSF (TSF1) of the GM was built with a maximum tailing storage capacity of 21 million tons and is now essentially full. Various stakeholders have different opinions regarding the impact of mine waste and wastewater from the GM on public health. Some surrounding villagers are seriously worried about the leakage of hazardous substances from the TSF1 to the environment. The residents have complained that the water in the environment is no longer suitable for human consumption; they experienced symptoms of central nervous system toxicity, such as weakness, headache and changes in taste and smell, more often than before the GM operation. Nevertheless, reports from the GM such as the EIA of TSF1, Sustainability Report 2012 and Independent Environmental, Technical Review of the CGM, Community and Technical Review and Audit of GM, concluded that TSF1 does not leak and should not pose any impact to communities. Nevertheless, groundwater samples from three monitoring stations downgradient of the TSF1 are contaminated with arsenic, cyanide, and TDS, respectively. These disparate opinions on the issue need clarification for legal, environmental protection, and for public health protection purposes. This is one of the main reasons tackling conflicts between residents and the GM and resulting in national-wide protest against the GM. Eventually, the Thai Prime Minister used Section 44 order to suspend the GM operation from December, 31, 2016 on. In order to clarify and test the veracity of these disparate opinions, geophysical techniques including transient electromagnetics (TEM) and electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) and geochemical techniques including sulfate tracer and isotope were used to investigate the potential leakage from TSF1. This is the first step toward risk management of leakage from the TSF1. For geophysical approaches, we hypothesized that the electrical resistivity anomalies in the TSF1 vicinity in comparison to the electrical resistivity results of the control areas can indicate potential leakage of mine water (low electrical resistivity) through the wall and the bottom of the TSF1. Based on the total of 89 stations for TEM measurement and 21 lines of 2-D ERI surveys, electrical anomalies were detected in both vertical direction and horizontal direction and in both shallow and deep levels. The major leakage was likely through the bottom clay liner of the storage facility. Moreover, several anomalies detected by the geophysic surveys were in a good agreement with the anomalies detected by isotope and geochemical techniques confirming the leakage from the TSF1. Stable isotope of oxygen18 and deuterium showed that most groundwater has natural origin except some monitoring wells close to TSF1 which showed sign of water from an evaporation pond, i.e. the leakage from the TSF1. Moreover, in those monitoring wells showed high sulfate concentrations supporting the mine water leakage hypothesis. The overall conclusion was drawn by combining the chemical, stable isotopes, and age of the groundwater. First, there is a strong possibility that the contamination comes from south wall of the waste storage then flow through the shallow groundwater and through laterite following by emerging on the surface then descend under the soft soil into the service pond nearby. Second postulation is a leak from the bottom of the waste storage pool into deep ground water through vertical fracture. The high salt content of the waste water then reacts with the localized arsenopyrite rock resulting in high concentration of arsenic in the monitoring well. Keywords: electromagnetic, imaging, resistivity, wells, groundwaterPermalink: https://doi.org/10.4133/sageep.33-050FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems 2021ISSN (online):1554-8015Copyright: 2021 Pages: 349 publication data© 2021 Published in electronic format with permission by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists and Environment and Engineering Geophysical SocietyPublisher:Environmental & Engineering Geophysical Society HistoryPublished: 11 Jun 2021 CITATION INFORMATION Tanapon Phenrat*, Yuji Mitsuhata, Takumi Ueda, Yoshishige Kawabe, Yoshiaki Karino, Hideyuki Sato, Warakorn Maneechuket, Thitiporn Pladboon, Sirinart Laoharojanaphand, and Kiattipong Khamdee, (2021), "Three lines of evidence: Using geophysical approaches, geochemical approaches, and visual observation to assess potential leakage of mine water from tailing storage facility of a gold mine in Thailand," Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems Proceedings : 91-92. https://doi.org/10.4133/sageep.33-050 Plain-Language Summary KeywordselectromagneticimagingresistivitywellsgroundwaterPDF DownloadLoading ...