Environmental Geochemistry

Current Projects

Gaining insights into mine waste dumps to avoid environmental legacies

(2023–2026) ARC Linkage Projects

The project aims to develop new methods for identifying pollution source hotspots and pathways inside mine waste rock dumps. This addresses the national need for effective management of Acid and Metalliferous Drainage (AMD), which is now a critical consideration in the viability of new mines and in confronting pollution legacies of old mines. The research will develop and test innovative methods of geophysical and geochemical analysis and their integration that provide 3-dimensional mapping of key physical and chemical features of the dump. Expected outcomes include greater confidence in the ability of the mining industry to manage its AMD liability.

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Delineating water tables and flow pathways inside spoil piles to support water quality predictions

(2023–2025) Australian Coal Association Research Program

Spoil piles have a highly heterogeneous composition and internal structure. Understanding the location and fluctuations of the water table inside spoil piles is essential for the success of progressive rehabilitation plans and mine closure, and in particular for predicting the water balance and water quality of final voids. The overall aim of this project is to detect the spatial and temporal distribution of water inside spoil piles, including the main water table and any perched water tables.

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Improved prediction, remediation and closure of acid and neutral metalliferous drainage (AMD/NMD) sites by examination of mine waste behaviour at the Meso-scale

(2022–2027) CRC TIME Limited

Small-scale kinetic tests such as standard humidity cell test or column leaching experiments are widely used to predict chemistry of drainages from mine waste storage facilities and to assess the long-term performance of remediation measures and constructed covers on mine waste. However, the results from these bench-top tests cannot be directly applied to field scale. This is partly because the complex interactions of solids, water and gases and the microbial activity, inside large-scale waste rock piles and tailings storage facilities, cannot be easily simulated in the laboratory, and partly because those interactions are not well understood and quantified, and it is not clear how the change of scale may affect those relationships.

The aim of this project is to investigate and quantify, through experimental work and numerical modelling at different scales, the significance of parameters that control the chemistry of acid and neutral drainage from mine waste storage facilities and use that information to more accurately scale up the results of kinetic tests.

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Scaling biotechnologies for the treatment of acidic pit lakes - Collinsville Coal Mine

(2022–2023) NC Coal Company Pty Limited, Queensland

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Bio-desalination and contaminant removal from pit water using microalgae

(2022) Sojitz Green Pty Ltd

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Mechanisms of uptake and translocation of thallium in Brassica juncea (Indian Mustard)

(2022) Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation

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An emerging pulsed power technology for dewatering mineral tailings

(2021–2024) Australian Coal Association Research Program

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Other projects in the group

• Long Term Salt Generation from Coal Spoils (ACARP project C25039)
• Characterising and Predicting Tailings Seepage Chemistry
• Assessment of Mineralogical, Textural and Water-chemistry Changes during Tailings-slurry Transport
• Environmental Geochemistry of Abandoned Mines in the Puno Region of Peru - to Guide Strategic Planning for Regional Development & Legacy Site Management
• Designer Tailings: A Life Cycle Approach to Tailings Management