Laboratory Investigation of the Control of Acid Mine Drainage Using Alkaline Paper Mill Waste

A great deal of research effort has been undertaken to find an effective solution to the problem of acid mine drainage. Indeed, Canadian legislation requires mining companies to respect environmental regulations by providing a rehabilitation plan with a financial guarantee. In order that the Canadian mining industry remains competitive, the proposed solutions have to be not only efficient but also economic, that is why the use of another waste material is attractive. The main objective of this study was to investigate the technical and environmental feasibility of stabilizing acid mine residues using alkaline paper mill waste produced by the pulp and paper industry as a basic source. The mineralogical characterization of the alkaline paper mill shows that calcite is the dominant mineral with hydrated lime (portlandite) present at a low content. The mineralogical characterization of the mining residues shows a polyphasic system where silica dominates the oxidized zone. On the other hand, a high pyrite content is present in the non-oxidized zone. The essential observations that emerge from the leaching tests undertaken in the laboratory can be summarized by the efficiency of the incorporation of the alkaline paper mill waste (1/3 waste and 2/3 mining residue) on the production of acid mine drainage. In fact, it can be observed that there is a reduction of the high toxicity elements like heavy metals. The increase in pH permits the reduction of catalytic bacterial activity and reduces the rate of oxidation in the mining residue.     

Field Investigation of Controlling Acid Mine Drainage Using Alkaline Paper Mill Waste

To verify in situ laboratory test results for the control of acid mine drainage using alkaline paper mill waste, five demonstration cells were built on the Ascot mine site in Sherbrooke (Québec, Canada). A monitoring program was set up to record temperature, leached water quality, oxygen concentration and electrical conductivity.Monitoring results showed that mixing mine residueswith alkaline paper mill waste and covering mine residues with paper mill waste allows an efficient control of acid mine drainage. The paper mill waste cover generates an alkaline front which results in metal precipitation as hydroxides. Also, an increase in pH results in an inhibitionof bacterial catalytic activity. Chemical analyses conducted on the collecting water shows a high reduction of leachingmetals to under ground water. Moreover, a significant reduction of diffusion of oxygen to the mine residue is observed.     

Complexation Study of Humic Acids Extracted from Forest and Sahara Soils with Zinc (II) and Cadmium (II) by Differential Pulse Anodic Stripping Voltammetry (DPASV) and Conductimetric Methods

Safranin was used as a model reactive dye for biosorption studies onto various forms of chemically modified biomass of Aspergillus wentii. The experimental equilibrium data was analyzed by various single-, two-, three-, four-, and five-parameter isotherms to understand the biosorption process. Biosorption isotherms modeling shows that the interaction of safranin with A. wentii surface is localized monolayer sorption. Results show that in general the accuracy of models to fit experimental data improves with the degree of freedom. The interaction among adsorbed molecules is repulsive having no association between them and sorption is carried out on energetically different sites and is an endothermic process. The five-parameter Fritz?CSchluender model gives the most accurate fit with high regression coefficients (0.9902?C0.9941), low standard errors (0.0389?C0.0758), and sum of squares error (0.0075?C0.0230) values to all experimental data in comparison to other models. The results disclose that the sorption isotherm models fitted the experimental data in the order: Fritz?CSchluender (five-parameter) > Langmuir > Khan > Fritz?CSchluender (four-parameter) > Temkin. This systematic evaluation of the more important equilibrium isotherm models provided the general basis for making a preliminary selection of an effective model for a given application.     

Traditional techniques for increasing the discharge from qanats in Algeria

This paper discusses the evolution of the foggara in time and the methods adopted by farmers to increase the water parts of owners. Field works were conducted in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 in the oases of Timimoun and Adrar. Over 100 foggaras were visited. Surveys and interviews with the populations and the owners were conducted. Two ancestral methods are used by the farmers to increase the discharge of the foggara. This is an extension of part of the drainage gallery and the addition of one or more branch in the main gallery. Over time, the foggara to a single gallery evolves towards a foggara to several galleries in the form a ramified network of galleries.     

Modelling the spatial distribution of snake species in northwestern Tunisia using maximum entropy(Maxent) and Geographic Information System(GIS)

We used GIS and maximum entropy to predict the potential distribution of six snake species belong to three families in Kroumiria(Northwestern Tunisia): Natricidae(Natrix maura and Natrix astreptophora), Colubridae(Hemorrhois hippocrepis, Coronella girondica and Macroprotodon mauritanicus), and Lamprophiidae(Malpolon insignitus). The suitable habitat for each species was modelled using the maximum entropy algorithm, combining presence field data(collected during 16 years:2000–2015) with a set of seven environmental variables(mean annual precipitation, elevation, slope gradient,aspect, distance to watercourses, land surface temperature and normalized Differential Vegetation Index. The relative importance of these environmental variables was evaluated by jackknife tests and the predictive power of our models was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic. The main explicative variables of the species distribution were distance from streams and elevation, with contributions ranging from 60 to 77 and from 10 to 25%,respectively. Our study provided the first habitat suitability models for snakes in Kroumiria and this information can be used by conservation biologists and land managers concerned with preserving snakes in Kroumiria.