Table Of ContentManagement Technologies for Metal Mining Influenced Water
Geochemical Modeling
for Mine Site Characterization
and Remediation
Volume 4
Edited by D. Kirk Nordstrom and Andrew Nicholson
Management Technologies for Metal Mining Influenced Water
Geochemical Modeling
for Mine Site Characterization
and Remediation
Volume 4
Edited by D. Kirk Nordstrom and Andrew Nicholson
PUBLISHED BY THE
SOCIETY FOR MINING, METALLURGY & EXPLORATION
Copyright © 2017 Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc. All rights reserved.
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15,000 members represent all professionals serving the minerals industry in more than 100 countries. SME
members include engineers, geologists, metallurgists, educators, students and researchers. SME advances
the worldwide mining and underground construction community through information exchange and
professional development.
Copyright © 2017 Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
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ISBN 978-0-87335-353-3
eBook 978-0-87335-461-5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Nordstrom, Darrell Kirk, editor. | Nicholson, Andrew (Environmental
engineer), editor.
Title: Geochemical modeling for mine site characterization and remediation /
edited by D. Kirk Nordstrom and Andrew Nicholson.
Description: Englewood, Colorado, USA : Society for Mining, Metallurgy &
Exploration, 2017. | Series: Management technologies for metal mining
influenced water ; volume 4 | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017037071 (print) | LCCN 2017037568 (ebook) | ISBN
9780873354615 | ISBN 9780873353533 | ISBN 9780873354615 (Ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Abandoned mined lands reclamation. | Mine drainage. | Mine
water. | Geochemical modeling.
Classification: LCC TD195.M5 (ebook) | LCC TD195.M5 G464 2017 (print) | DDC
622.028/6--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017037071
Copyright © 2017 Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER
This handbook is not intended to provide all of the information needed to conduct geochemical
modeling at mining influenced sites. The descriptions herein do not purport to address safety
concerns, if any, and it is the responsibility of the reader to establish appropriate safety and health
practices and to determine the applicability of regulatory limitations. Regulatory requirements
may be more specific than the information included in this handbook. Any use of trade, firm,
or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S.
government. The views expressed in this handbook are those of the authors and editors and do
not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or of the U.S.
government. This handbook has been peer reviewed and approved for publication consistent
with U.S. Geological Survey Fundamental Science Practices (http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1367/,
accessed April 6, 2017).
Copyright © 2017 Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2017 Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc. All rights reserved.
Contents
Preface ix
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Objective 1
Modeling and Mine Wastes 1
Chapter 2 What Is a Model? 3
Introduction 3
Scientific Models 3
Conceptual Errors with Models and Model Validity 5
Background Prerequisites for Modeling 6
Chapter 3 Geochemical Modeling and Environmental Systems 7
Introduction 7
Reaction Rates and Water-Flow Rates 9
Mass Balances 10
Chapter 4 Modeling for Regulatory Review 27
Introduction 27
Good Science 27
Regulatory Concerns 28
Conclusions 34
Chapter 5 Modeling to Understand a Site 35
Introduction 35
Water Analyses 35
Mineral Analyses 38
Major Hydrogeochemical Processes at Mine Sites 40
Chapter 6 Hydrologic Modeling 55
Introduction 55
Water Cycle 55
Water-Balance Models 56
Surface-Water Models 58
Groundwater Models 59
Modeling Approaches and Codes 62
v
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vi GEOCHEMICAL MODELING FOR MINE SITE CHARACTERIZATION AND REMEDIATION
Surface-Water/Groundwater Interaction 64
Pit Lakes 69
Watershed-Scale Integrated Models 70
Gas Phase 70
Calibration tools 71
Graphical User Interfaces 71
Chapter 7 Reactive Transport Modeling 73
Introduction 73
Governing Processes in Mine and Process Waste Environments 74
Modeling Approach 81
Illustrative Example—Mineral Weathering in Tailings Impoundment 83
Summary and Conclusions 87
Chapter 8 Codes for Mine Site Characterization 89
Code Listing 89
Testing Codes 89
Databases 94
Chapter 9 Case Studies 97
Questa Baseline and Premining Groundwater Quality 97
Glynn and Brown: Application of Staged Geochemical Modeling to
Understand the Past and Future of a Hydrogeochemical System 102
Hydrologic Modeling 108
Buckhorn Mine Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport
Modeling 113
Uranium Processing Wastes and Groundwater Plumes: Three
Field Studies 118
Simulations of Reactive Transport Modeling in Surface Waters 121
Appendix A Recap: What Models Can and Cannot Do 127
Appendix B Fifteen-Year Retrospection on Glynn and Brown (1996) 131
References 135
Index 153
Copyright © 2017 Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc. All rights reserved.
Editorial Board and Contributors
Senior Editors
D. Kirk Nordstrom, U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, Colorado
Andrew Nicholson, Integral Consulting Inc., Louisville, Colorado
Contributors
Walter Weinig, Laramide Sciences, Lakewood, Colorado
Ulrich Mayer, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
Ann Maest, Buka Environmental, Boulder, Colorado
vii
Copyright © 2017 Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2017 Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc. All rights reserved.
Preface
Geochemical Modeling for Mine Site Characterization and Remediation is the fourth of six vol-
umes in the Management Technologies for Metal Mining Influenced Water series of handbooks
about technologies for management of metal mine and metallurgical process drainage. This
volume provides basic technical information on geochemical modeling as it pertains to mine
site characterization and remediation for a wide range of parties, including mine planners and
engineers, environmental managers, land managers, consultants, researchers, government reg-
ulators, nongovernment organizations, students, stakeholders, and anyone with an interest in
mining influenced water. Although this handbook focuses on geochemical modeling, hydrologic
modeling is included because mining contaminants most often migrate by surface water and
groundwater transport, and contaminant concentrations are a function of water residence time
as well as pathways.
This handbook makes important links to the other five handbooks. Geochemical model-
ing is used to describe the reactions and processes of acid mine drainage formation, secondary
mineral formation, and carbonate neutralization outlined in Volume 1 (Basics of Metal Mining
Influenced Water, McLemore 2008). Geochemical modeling can be applied to mitigation design
and implementation described in Volume 2 (Mitigation of Metal Mining Influenced Water, Gusek
and Figueroa 2009) because the chemical consequences of water diversion, treatment (e.g., lime
neutralization), tailings, or waste rock removal can be estimated through modeling. Important
themes in Volume 3 (Mine Pit Lakes: Characteristics, Predictive Modeling, and Sustainability, Cas-
tendyk and Eary 2009) include hydrogeochemical modeling of water quality predictions for pit
lakes, which directly link to topics in this handbook. Geochemical modeling is often used to com-
plement predictive testing from static and kinetic methods described in Volume 5 (Techniques of
Predicting Metal Mining Influenced Water, Williams and Diehl 2014), and it often applies to the
interpretation of water analyses that must meet quality assurance and quality control standards
outlined in Volume 6 (Sampling and Monitoring for the Mine Life Cycle, McLemore et al. 2014).
These six handbooks are a volunteer project of the Acid Drainage Technology Initiative–
Metal Mining Sector (ADTI-MMS). The Metal Mining Sector is part of the Acid Drainage
Technology Initiative, which is the United States’ regional member of the Global Alliance spon-
sored by the International Network for Acid Prevention. The mission of ADTI-MMS is to
identify, evaluate, develop, and disseminate information about cost-effective and environmentally
sound methods and technologies to manage mine wastes and related metallurgical materials for
abandoned, inactive, active, and future mining and associated operations, and to promote under-
standing of these technologies.
This volume greatly benefitted from reviews by several experts. We especially thank Madhu-
mita Raghav, Eric Weiland, Rens Verburg, Roderick (David) Williams, and Charles Bucknam
for their reviews and their patience during the preparation of this volume. Gratitude and thanks
are extended to Zoë Polando for her renderings of several figures in Chapter 6. The senior editor
and author (DKN) thank the National Research Program of the U.S. Geological Survey for their
support, without which this volume could not have been completed.
ix
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