Optimization of Chromate Reduction by Whole Cells of <i>Arthrobacter</i>sp. SUK 1205 Isolated from Metalliferous Chromite Mine Environment

Arthrobacter sp. SUK 1205 isolated from metalliferous chromite mine environment of Orissa, India showed wide degree of tolerance to heavy metals including Cr(VI), variety of antibiotics and was also capable of reducing Cr(VI) during growth. Freshly grown whole cells of this bacterium were evaluated for chromate reduction under batch culture using Vogel Bonner (V. B.) broth as the base. Cells of SUK 1205 were capable of completely reducing 100 μM Cr(VI) in V. B. broth within 48 h of incubation. Reduction of chromate increased with increase in cell density which attained maximum at 1010 cells/ml, however, reverse was the phenomenon when the concentration of Cr(VI) increased gradually. Glycerol, glycine and glucose promoted chromate reduction efficiency of the cells when used as electron donors. Optimum pH and temperature were found to be 7.0 and 35°C respectively. The process of reduction was inhibited by Ni(II), Mn(II), Zn(II) and Co(II), but Cu(II) and Fe(III) was promotive in nature. On the other hand, 2, 4-dinitrophenol was found to be neither promotive nor inhibitory for the reduction process, but carbonyl cyanide-m-chloro phenyl hydrazone, sodium azide, sodium fluoride and N,N,-dicyclohexyl carboiimide were inhibitory. Cells of SUK 1205 when permeabilized with toluene, triton X-100 and tween 80 showed an enhancement of the process and thereby indicated that reduction of Cr(VI) was mainly associated with soluble component of the cells. Arthrobacter sp. SUK 1205, therefore, showed great promise for use in Cr(VI) detoxification under a wide range of environmental conditions.

Environmental assessment and nano-mineralogical characterization of coal,overburden and sediment from Indian coal mining acid drainage

The deterioration of environmental conditions is the major contributory factor to poor health and quality of life that hinders sustainable development in any region.Coal mining is one of the major industries that contribute to the economy of a country but it also impacts the environment.The chemical parameters of the coal,overburden,soil and sediments along with the coal mine drainage(CMD)were investigated in order to understand the overall environmental impact from high sulphur coal mining at northeastern coalfield(India).It was found that the total sulphur content of the coal is noticeably high compared to the overburden(OB)and soil.The volatile matter of the coal is sufficiently high against the high ash content of the soil and overburden.The water samples have a High Electrical Conductivity(EC)and high Total Dissolve Solid(TDS).Lower values of pH,indicate the dissolution of minerals present in the coal as well as other minerals in the mine rejects/overburden.The chemical and nano-mineralogical composition of coal,soil and overburden samples was studied using a High Resolution-Transmission Electron Microscopy(HR-TEM),Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy(EDS),Selected-Area Diffraction(SAED),Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscopy(FE-SEM)/EDS,X-ray diffraction(XRD),Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy(FTIR),Raman and Ion-Chromatographic analysis,and Mossbauer spectroscopy.From different geochemical analysis it has been found that the mine water sample from Ledo colliery has the lowest pH value of 3.30,Tirap colliery samples have the highest electrical conductivity value of5.40 ms cm^(-1)Both Ledo and Tirap coals have total sulphur contents within the range 3-3.50%.The coal mine water from Tirap colliery(TW-15 B)has high values of Mg^(2+)(450 ppm),and Br^-(227.17 ppm).XRD analysis revealed the presence of minerals including quartz and hematite in the coals.Mineral analysis of coal mine overburden(OB)indicates the presence both of pyrite and marcasite which was also confirmed in XRD and Mossbauer spectral analysis.The presented data of the minerals and ultra/nano-particles present shows their ability to control the mobility of hazardous elements,suggesting possible use in environmental management technology,including restoration of the delicate Indian coal mine areas.

New Constraints on the Environmental Impact of Iron Oxides and Lead-Zinc Mines in Red Sea Hills,Egypt

Iron oxides and lead-zinc deposits in host rocks located in ten drainage basins in the coastal plain of the Red Sea,Egypt,have been subjected to important mining activities.The drainage basins were analyzed to estimate the transportations of these minerals. Fourteen soil samples and fifteen plant samples were collected from sites located in the basin and also in neighboring area and chemically analyzed.In

Geochemical and Environmental Evaluation of Um Shashoba Gold Mine Area,Southeastern Desert,Egypt

A suite of elements（Ag,Au,Ba,Bi,Cd,Co,Cr,Cu,Ga,Hf,Hg,Mn,Mo,Ni,Pb,Rb,Sb,Se, Sr,Te and Zn）,total organic carbon（TOC）and pH were analyzed in stream sediment and tailing samples from Um Shashoba area,in order to evaluate Au placer and the sediments being impacted by old mining activities.Analytical results were examined using statistical,graphical and mapping methods.In spite of the results revealing that Au and most of the elements in sediments were in general significantly lower than those in tailing,Au was concentrated in the NE and SW parts forming Au placer.It is remarkably a close association of Au with Hg and Sb;both are useful as pathfinder elements for Au placers.Values of pH could not control a fate of analyzed elements,whereas TOC and Mn oxides and hydroxides could uptake some elements Au,Ba,Co,Cr,Hg,Ni,and Sr.The results also indicated that the sediments were contaminated by anthropogenic factors causing moderate,strong to very strong pollution with respect to Bi,Se and Te,respectively.Additionally,geogenic factors could also contribute elemental enrichment to the drainage system and cause significant toxicity level.

License to Mine: A Comparison of the Scope of the Environmental Assessment in Sweden, Finland and Russia

The regulatory framework for mining operations is complex;the licensing process in particular typically involves several laws and a number of permits. This paper assumes that the regulatory framework is strongly influenced by the institutional framework of which it is part, and that it suffers from an institutional path dependence that may decrease the efficiency of the system as well as act barrier to the implementation of necessary environmental requirements. The paper provides: 1) a legal analysis of the regulatory framework governing mining operations in Sweden, Finland and Russia;and 2) a comparative analysis of the scope of the environmental assessment within the licensing process in the examined countries. The result of the analysis of the regulatory frameworks shows great similarity between the Swedish and the Finnish systems, both in terms of the overall structure and the implementation of substantive environmental rules. The Russian system differs in this respect, with more declarative rules and seemingly less substantive assessments. The results also indicate that the regulatory frameworks in all three countries show signs of institutional path dependence, but in very different degrees. Though Russia has indeed implemented major changes in the formal structure, very little has changed in practice. The Swedish regulatory framework for mining shows a deficient systematics and conflicting objectives, despite the implementation of a comprehensive environmental legislation. The recently reformed Finnish system seems to have a more holistic approach.

Radiological and X-Ray Diffraction Characterization of Bauxite and Rutile Ore Contaminated Environment in Kanam and Wase Mineral Exploration Sites, Plateau State-Nigeria

Two non-destructive analytical techniques (gamma spectrometer and X-ray diffractometer) were employed in the analysis of bauxite and rutile ore and their vicinity soil and control sourced within the Kanam and Wase mineral exploration sites. The activity concentrations of natural radionuclides 238U, 232Th, and 40K in the soil samples received from bauxite and rutile mineral mining vicinities revealed high concentrations of 238U, 232Th, and 40K compared to the control soil samples sourced 500 m away from the mineral exploration vicinities. Radiological detriments RLI, AUI, Hin and Hex unveiled values exceeding the radiation standard concentration (>1) for soil. X-ray diffraction characterization of bauxite ore revealed the interlocking minerals of Bauxite (18)%, Albite (11)%, Garnet (15)%, Illite (6)% and Muscovite (43)% in various proportions obtained within the 2θ range (9.18 to 64.4) and a peak value (intensity, cps) of 3400. Pure bauxite percentage in the ore meets metallurgical grade (15 - 25)%. X-ray diffraction of rutile ore revealed the minerals of rutile (40)%, quartz (21.4)%, ilmenite (27)% and garnet (11.8)% found within the 2θ range (27.5 to 35.6) and a peak value intensity of 31.1 - 100.0 cps also meeting the metallurgical grade of 15% - 25%. The major environmental concern associated with the mineral-sands industry is the radiation hazards, pollution of ground-water sources from heavy metals, mineral transport with heavy equipment’s, dredging operations in fragile coastal area and clearing of vegetation.

Environmental issues from coal mining and their solutions

The environmental challenges from coal mining include coal mine accidents,land subsidence,damage to the water environment,mining waste disposal and air pollution.These are either environmental pollution or landscape change.A conceptual framework for solving mine environmental issues is proposed.Clean processes,or remediation measures,are designed to address environmental pollution.Restoration measures are proposed to handle landscape change.The total methane drainage from 56 Chinese high methane concentration coal mines is about 101.94 million cubic meters.Of this methane,19.32 million,35.58 million and 6.97 million cubic meters are utilized for electricity generation,civil fuel supplies and other industrial purposes,respectively.About 39% of the methane is emitted into the atmosphere.The production of coal mining wastes can be decreased 10% by reuse of mining wastes as underground fills,or by using the waste as fuel for power plants or for raw material to make bricks or other infrastructure materials.The proper use of mined land must be decided in terms of local physical and socio-economical conditions.In European countries more than 50% of previously mined lands are reclaimed as forest or grass lands.However,in China more than 70% of the mined lands are reclaimed for agricultural purposes because the large population and a shortage of farmlands make this necessary.Reconstruction of rural communities or native residential improvement is one environmental problem arising from mining.We suggest two ways to reconstruct a farmer's house in China.

欧共体MINEO项目对我国采矿环境影响综合监测的启示

结合欧共体应用先进地球观测技术评价和监测欧洲采矿活动环境影响(MINEO)项目的实施背景、主要内容和创新成果,面向我国煤矿区采矿环境损害监测与环境影响评价的重大需求,探讨了MINEO项目对我国采矿环境监测的启示,提出构建综合技术体系、推进环境参数遥感定量反演、开展高光谱遥感应用、发展多目标遥感应用体系、集成遥感及GIS与专业分析模型、建立示范基地与相关标准规范等建议.

GIS Database Template for Environmental Management of Mining in Indonesia

Mining sector in Indonesia faces many challenges including needed to support national economy, compliance to central and local government regulations, local community empowerment and environmental impact management. Mining companies are mandatory to perform the environmental management efforts to minimize the negative impact to the environment and pursue sustainability of post-mining land use and as much as possible to restore land to the initial conditions. There are many challenges on management multi parameter and multi temporal spatial data of environmental management. The aim of this research is to design the GIS database template for environmental management in Indonesia’s mining operation. This GIS database is designed using ArcCatalog ArcGIS 9.3 software, through following steps: inventory and assessment government regulations, inventory and assessment environmental quality standards, sorting and grouping parameters, design feature class and attribute, create GIS database, create GIS database dictionary. According to research result, GIS database template has many advantages for environmental management include integrated into a single database, avoid redundancy data, reduce volume data, uniformity data, easy to find and track data, integrated spatial and attribute data, can be used as an input for GIS analysis for decision-making and development strategies.

Impact of Sand Mining and Sea Reclamation on the Environment and Socioeconomic Activities of Ikate and Ilubirin Coastal Low Income Communities in Lagos Metropolis, Southwestern Nigeria

Land reclamation is gradually posing negative impact on man due to unplanned urbanization. A study was carried out on impact of land reclamation through sand mining of coastal communities in Ikate and Ilubirin in Lagos, Nigeria. Ten waters (8 surface and 2 groundwater sources), 10 soil samples and air were collected and taken for analysis. Results of water revealed concentrations lower than WHO (2017) and SON (2007) standards. Soil/sediment with average crustal value revealed Pb and Cd above standard values, which is attributed to anthropogenic influence on soils. Quality of air in the study was mainly particulate matter arising from the sea and reclaimed land in the surroundings of the environment with the highest Total Suspended Particulate of 0.8 mg/m3 in sulfur dioxide. This explains corrosion found on the roofs of the communities. Therefore, in the development planning adequate precautions should be put in place to avert environmental degradation.

Environmental Geochemistry of Mining Activities in Panzhihua Region, Southwestern China

Mining activities have created huge uncovered slopes, large areas of gangue ground and extensive tailings dams. This paper presents the environmental geochemistry of mining activities in Panzhihua region. The selected elements (Ti, V, Mo. Ni. Pb. Cu) show similar distribution patterns of concentration anomaly in topsoil. These concentration anomalies are located in V-Ti-magnetite slope, gangues dam and coal mine. The distinction between anthropogenic contamination and natural background is made available by the use of the enrichment factor in this study area. The anomalies of EF were smaller than that of concentration. The results from EF show that the selected elements anthropogenic pollution (EF>1) in topsoil were located in both the coal mining area and the V-Ti-magnetite mining area. In addition, the pollution sources of selected elements came from V-Ti-magnetite, slag, gangues, coal and other pollutants from mining activities.

Sulfur in Coal and Its Environmental Impact from Yanzhou Mining District, China

Sulfur is one of the hazardous elements in coal. The concentrations of sulfur are relatively high in coal. The major forms of sulfur in coal are pyritic, organic and sulfate. Pyritic and organic sulfur generally account for the bulk of sulfur in coal. Elemental sulfur also occurs in coal, but only in trace to minor amounts. When coals are burned, leached and washed, sulfur will be released in the form of sulfide and H\-2S, which then react with O\-2, water and other substances to change into vitriol, and in some places it may form acid rain. And they will impact water environment, acidify the soil and do great harm to plants and human health. In this paper, on the basis of the data from the Yanzhou mining district, the distribution and concentrations of sulfur are analyzed and the existing forms of sulfur are studied. The variation of sulfur and its impact on the environments also are described when coal is used.

Impact of Mining Activities upon Environment in Panzhihua Region, Southwestern China

Mining activities have left huge uncovered slopes, large areas of gangue ground and extensive railings dams. In this paper, we studied some impacts of mining activities upon environment in Panzhihua region, southwestern China. The environmental impacts include ecological destruction, geological disasters, environmental pollution, land damage, solid waste and occupational health effect in study area. The author suggested that local government should take some measure to reduce environmental impact in Pan...

Small Scale Mining in Tanzania Toward Sustainable Use(Prospects,Opportunities and Challenges for Environmental Management)

Although small scale mining management is a complex task,many countries in the world have managed to develop mining management regimes that can improve the economic and environmental efficiency of the small scale mining sector.This paper attempts to explore the mental picture of opportunities and challenges of the environmental management in small scale mining in Tanzania focusing on

安徽矾矿土壤重金属污染源解析模型对比与优选

矿区资源开采导致土壤污染日益严重,直接影响周边土壤、水体环境的稳定性,精准预测重金属污染源解析对矿山修复、治理具有重要指导作用。在前期研究基础上,为提升土壤介质模型的解释度,进一步选取了土壤重金属源解析评价中成熟度高且精准性好的正定矩阵因子分析法(positive matrix factorization, PMF)及绝对因子分析-多元线性回归(absolute factor analysis-multiple linear regression, APCS-MLR)模型,以充实前期UNMIX多元受体模型分析矾矿土壤重金属污染来源及源贡献率的结果,结合生态风险评价方法,对比定量条件下最适宜解析研究区域源的模型。结果表明:1)生态高风险区域主要集中在研究区南部和东部,Cd是矿山主要风险元素,地累积指数(index of geoaccumulation)均值3.75与潜在生态风险指数(potential ecological risk index)均值731.22解析结果高度一致,但潜在生态危害指数的结果综合性更好。2)对比3种模型的污染源解析结果,PMF模型解析出4个污染源:分别为燃煤源、自然-交通综合源、自然源和大气沉降源,源贡献率分别为38.15%、20.62%、24.28%、16.95%。3)PMF模型的总体变量拟合优度R2达到了0.96,拟合效果最好。PMF模型模拟数据会集中采样点误差,确定最适污染源数目及相应污染物贡献率,使得源解析结果更精准,更适用于复杂的矿山污染土壤情况,符合实际研究情况。该研究结果可为后续矿区开采后污染土壤的修复治理工作提供溯源依据参考。

Environmental Impact of Lefa Gold Mining on Its Local Population, Republic of Guinea

Republic of Guinea’s environmental situation is characterized by the continued degradation of natural resources. Lefa gold mine is one of the Guinean Republic’s gold companies which support the socioeconomic improvement. It operates in the northeastern part of the country and extracts the ore gold by open pit method by using cyanide. The exploitation of the Lefa Gold Mine impacts?the natural resources and the surrounding population. This paper considers the impact of Lefa Gold Mine activities on the environment and its local population including ecological disturbance, destruction of fauna and flora, land and landscape degradation. The study was carried out in April to July 2013 in two villages, Fayalala Carrefour, and Lèro Karta. Questionnaires were illustrated for data collection, and the proposed sampling size number (1204 respondents) consisted of the two villages and the surrounding villages was?founded on the proximity to the mine sites and their degree of suffering?after a direct impact of mining activities. 961 (79.82% of respondents) adhered?to the research to provide information about the situation. The principal objective of this paper was to provide new information on the problems existing in the achievement of mining policies that will help to mitigate the environmental impacts of gold mining activities on the local population. From the respondents, the results showed that the Lefa gold mine’s activities contaminated the farmland (31.21%), allowed the extinction of many animals and plant species (28.19%), which caused the change of the landscape of the study area. However, the most important situation was the life of the surrounding population. Therefore, the study has proposed a serial of recommendation to help Lefa gold mine reduce the impact of their activities on the environment and local population.