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Frontiers of Earth Science

ISSN 2095-0195

ISSN 2095-0209(Online)

CN 11-5982/P

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Front. Earth Sci.    2022, Vol. 16 Issue (4) : 906-915    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-021-0968-3
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of some gold mine tailings in the Eastern Desert of Egypt
Mostafa REDWAN()
Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Sohag University, Sohag 82524, Egypt
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Abstract

The adverse environmental effects of mine tailings disposal on the surrounding ecosystems are worldwide environmental problems. Due to environmental issues related to tailings discharged on land surface, detailed tailings characterization is a prerequisite for a long-term management solution. The tailings from four gold mines in Egypt, namely Fatira, El Sid, Barramiya, and Atud were investigated for their geochemical-mineralogical features and the effect of weathering behavior on the release of their heavy elements. The tailings samples were investigated by mineralogical (XRD and ESEM-EDS), physical (grain-size distribution) and geochemical (XRF) techniques. Most of the tailings have uniform silt-size with fine to very finesand and clay. Atud tailings have coarse to fine sands. High carbonate, predominantly calcite was found for the samples from Fatira and Atud, calcite-ankerite from El Sid and dolomite from Barramiya with little sulfide-content. High-mean of Cr (569287 mg/kg), Ni (89191 mg/kg) and Co (4221 mg/kg) values are coinciding with the ultramafic nature in Atud and Barramiya tailings. El Sid tailings have a high-mean concentration of Zn (1357 mg/kg) and Pb (1349 mg/kg). Barramiya tailings have a high-mean As concentration (2635 mg/kg). The Fatira tailings are characterized by high-mean values of Sr (444 mg/kg) and Cu (280 mg/kg) arising from auriferous mineralization. High Sr concentrations in Fatira tailings are mainly due to its adsorption to iron oxides. Pyrite oxidation is conceded along the cracks and/or the edges of the crystals in the El Sid, Barramiya and Atud tailings. The Threshold Effect Level (TEL) values indicated high contamination from heavy elements to the neighboring ecosystem. The tailings were deposited downstream into the small wadis. Wind and water erosion can dissolve efflorescent materials enriched in toxic elements like As, Zn, and Pb at tailings surface. The release of contaminants could be catastrophic for the environment without mine site rehabilitation strategies.
Keywords gold mine      tailings      geochemistry      mineralogy      Egypt     
Corresponding Author(s): Mostafa REDWAN   
Online First Date: 22 April 2022    Issue Date: 11 January 2023
 Cite this article:   
Mostafa REDWAN. Geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of some gold mine tailings in the Eastern Desert of Egypt[J]. Front. Earth Sci., 2022, 16(4): 906-915.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/10.1007/s11707-021-0968-3
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/Y2022/V16/I4/906
Fig.1  Location (Google earth) map of the study area showing the locations of Fatira, El Sid, Barramyia and Atud gold mine areas.
Fig.2  Geological maps of (a) Fatira (after Abd El Monsef et al. 2020), (b) El Sid (after Langwieder 1994), (c) Barramiya (after Harraz et al. 2012) and (d) Atud (after Harraz 2002; Klemm and Klemm 2013).
Fig.3  Dry tailings stacks (a) in front of the mine with blocks of agglutinated, (b) tailings from Fatira. (c) Surface and (d) lateral views of El Sid gold mine tailings with the distribution of desiccation cracks. (e) Surface view, (f) high intensive subrosion channels of Barramiya gold mine tailings. Disseminated heaps (g, h) of whitish tailings from Atud area.
Fig.4  Triangular plot of (a) SiO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3, (b) MgO, Al2O3, and CaO, (c) Pb+Zn, K2O+Al2O3, and Cr+Ni, bivariate diagram for (d) Al2O3/TiO2 vs. SiO2 showing mixing trends according to host rocks lithology (quartz vein, granite and mafics/ultramafics) of the tailings materials.
Fig.5  Grain size distribution (in mm) of the tailings samples from El Sid, Barramiya, Atud and Fatira.
Fig.6  Rough estimate of relative mineral phase distribution depend on XRD measurements coded for major phases by order of intensity from 50 to 10, and for traces from 6 to 1 and afterwards accumulated to 100% on the basis of coding, of the tailings samples.
Fig.7  BSE images of a) finely ground tailings sample from Fatira mine rich in iron sulfates and Si, b) incipient pyrite alteration along the cracks filled by Si, Al, Si and Mg sulfates of El Sid tailings, c) pyrite alteration along the rims and cracks variable filled by Fe, Si, Al, Si and Mg sulfates from Barramiya tailings, d) Atud tailings with rim alteration rich in iron sulfates with variable Si and Al.
oxide/element El Sid1 El Sid2 Barramiya1 Barramiya2 Atud1 Atud2 Fatira1 Fatira2
SiO2/% 69.12 67.64 60.03 59.33 43.6 48.24 57 54.85
TiO2/% 0.611 0.627 0.54 0.541 0.4 0.489 1 0.926
Al2O3/% 7.03 7.11 10.69 10.28 16.5 18.95 17 15.89
Fe2O3/% 5 5.3 4.76 5.03 5.3 6.18 11 10.92
MnO/% 0.107 0.115 0.12 0.112 0.1 0.108 0 0.054
MgO/% 2.88 3.67 4.07 4.64 8.4 9.25 1 0.97
CaO/% 4.578 5.027 4.926 5.069 15.5 9.059 1 0.936
Na2O/% 1.66 1.22 1.06 1.12 1.3 1.07 1 2.10
K2O/% 1.464 1.522 1.916 1.706 0.2 0.222 5 4.384
P2O5/% 0.212 0.2 0.064 0.068 0.0 0.049 0 0.257
(SO3)/% 2.12 1.85 0.89 0.62 0.3 0.02 0 0.34
(Cl)/% 0.027 0.027 0.011 10.8 0.1 0.018 0 0.012
(F)/% 0.1 0.12 <0.05 <0.05 <0.05 <0.05 0 0.14
LOI/% 4.35 4.84 10.17 10.8 8.0 6.03 6 7.96
Sum/% 99.26 99.27 99.29 99.34 99.62 99.69 100 99.74
(As)/(mg·kg−1) 1078 1278 3092 2178 14 14 45 45
Ba/(mg·kg−1) 348 333 297 253 46 41 654 609
Ce/(mg·kg−1) 57 42 41 60 41 <18 <52 <52
Co/(mg·kg−1) 15 16 19 23 42 41 7 11
Cr/(mg·kg−1) 125 187 240 334 560 578 47 51
Cu/(mg·kg−1) 43 41 48 45 67 38 300 260
Ni/(mg·kg−1) 94 123 154 228 108 70 12 18
Pb/(mg·kg−1) 1446 1251 8 7 17 9 35 <6
Rb/(mg·kg−1) 38 41 48 43 7 7 114 108
Sc/(mg·kg−1) 8 10 18 16 34 34 17 <17
Sr/(mg·kg−1) 185 196 250 228 264 212 423 465
V/(mg·kg−1) 72 77 131 111 118 128 120 113
W/(mg·kg−1) 42 29 6 5 <4 <4 10 <8
Y/(mg·kg−1) 18 16 26 27 13 15 17 13
Zn/(mg·kg−1) 1477 1236 57 61 41 39 241 405
Zr/(mg·kg−1) 113 106 87 96 40 38 135 133
  Table S1 Chemical composition of tailings materials measured using XRF
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