Environmental challenges related to cyanidation in Central American gold mining; the Remance mine (Panama)
Mine tailings are a potential source of environmental pollution because they typically contain potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and the residue of chemical compounds used during extraction processes. The Remance gold mine (NW Panama) is a decommissioned mine with mining activity records dating from...
| Authors: | ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; |
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| Format: | Article |
| Publication date: | 2021 |
| Country: | España |
| Institution: | Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha |
| Repository: | RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ruidera.uclm.es:10578/32242 |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10578/32242 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | Tailings Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) Total cyanide Environmental assessment Gold mine Panama |
| _version_ | 1878729813926084608 |
|---|---|
| author | González Valoys, Ana Cristina |
| author2 | Arrocha, Jonatha Monteza Destro, Tisla Vargas Lombardo, Miguel Esbrí Víctor, José María García Ordiales, Efrén Jiménez Ballesta, Raimundo García Navarro, Francisco Jesús Higueras Higueras, Pablo León |
| author2_role | author author author author author author author author |
| author_browse | Arrocha, Jonatha Esbrí Víctor, José María García Navarro, Francisco Jesús García Ordiales, Efrén González Valoys, Ana Cristina Higueras Higueras, Pablo León Jiménez Ballesta, Raimundo Monteza Destro, Tisla Vargas Lombardo, Miguel |
| author_facet | González Valoys, Ana Cristina Arrocha, Jonatha Monteza Destro, Tisla Vargas Lombardo, Miguel Esbrí Víctor, José María García Ordiales, Efrén Jiménez Ballesta, Raimundo García Navarro, Francisco Jesús Higueras Higueras, Pablo León |
| author_role | author |
| collection | RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM |
| description | Mine tailings are a potential source of environmental pollution because they typically contain potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and the residue of chemical compounds used during extraction processes. The Remance gold mine (NW Panama) is a decommissioned mine with mining activity records dating from the 1800s and several periods of abandonment. Very little remediation work has been performed, and waste is exposed to climatic conditions. This study aimed to evaluate the PTEs and cyanide contents in mine waste after mining operations ceased some 20 years ago, and to evaluate the degree of pollution and the environmental risks they pose with the use of the Pollution Load Index (PLI) and the Ecological Risk Index (RI). Although the total cyanide (T-CN) concentration (1.4–1.9 mg kg−1) found in most of the study area falls within the limits of gold mining tailing values for American sites (1.5–23 mg kg−1), it is worth noting that the values of the tailings of the last used mining operation exceed it (25.2–518 mg kg−1) and persist at the site. The PLI and RI suggest that the tailings from the mine and mine gallery sediments represent a source of pollution for soils and surrounding areas given their high content of PTEs (As, Cu, Sb, Hg) and T-CN, which pose serious ecological risks for biota. Therefore, it is necessary to draw up a remediation plan for this area. |
| eu_rights_str_mv | openAccess |
| format | article |
| id | ES_0f8d9db45fef76b2e09a6b85496fc0bf |
| institution | Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha |
| instname_str | Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha |
| network_acronym_str | ES |
| network_name_str | España |
| oai_identifier_str | oai:ruidera.uclm.es:10578/32242 |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| reponame_str | RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM |
| spelling | Environmental challenges related to cyanidation in Central American gold mining; the Remance mine (Panama) González Valoys, Ana Cristina Arrocha, Jonatha Monteza Destro, Tisla Vargas Lombardo, Miguel Esbrí Víctor, José María García Ordiales, Efrén Jiménez Ballesta, Raimundo García Navarro, Francisco Jesús Higueras Higueras, Pablo León Tailings Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) Total cyanide Environmental assessment Gold mine Panama Mine tailings are a potential source of environmental pollution because they typically contain potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and the residue of chemical compounds used during extraction processes. The Remance gold mine (NW Panama) is a decommissioned mine with mining activity records dating from the 1800s and several periods of abandonment. Very little remediation work has been performed, and waste is exposed to climatic conditions. This study aimed to evaluate the PTEs and cyanide contents in mine waste after mining operations ceased some 20 years ago, and to evaluate the degree of pollution and the environmental risks they pose with the use of the Pollution Load Index (PLI) and the Ecological Risk Index (RI). Although the total cyanide (T-CN) concentration (1.4–1.9 mg kg−1) found in most of the study area falls within the limits of gold mining tailing values for American sites (1.5–23 mg kg−1), it is worth noting that the values of the tailings of the last used mining operation exceed it (25.2–518 mg kg−1) and persist at the site. The PLI and RI suggest that the tailings from the mine and mine gallery sediments represent a source of pollution for soils and surrounding areas given their high content of PTEs (As, Cu, Sb, Hg) and T-CN, which pose serious ecological risks for biota. Therefore, it is necessary to draw up a remediation plan for this area. Elsevier http://hdl.handle.net/10578/32242 |
| spellingShingle | Environmental challenges related to cyanidation in Central American gold mining; the Remance mine (Panama) González Valoys, Ana Cristina Tailings Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) Total cyanide Environmental assessment Gold mine Panama |
| title | Environmental challenges related to cyanidation in Central American gold mining; the Remance mine (Panama) |
| title_full | Environmental challenges related to cyanidation in Central American gold mining; the Remance mine (Panama) |
| title_fullStr | Environmental challenges related to cyanidation in Central American gold mining; the Remance mine (Panama) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental challenges related to cyanidation in Central American gold mining; the Remance mine (Panama) |
| title_short | Environmental challenges related to cyanidation in Central American gold mining; the Remance mine (Panama) |
| title_sort | Environmental challenges related to cyanidation in Central American gold mining; the Remance mine (Panama) |
| topic | Tailings Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) Total cyanide Environmental assessment Gold mine Panama |
| topic_facet | Tailings Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) Total cyanide Environmental assessment Gold mine Panama |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10578/32242 |