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Release of Base and Potentially Harmful Metals from Waste Deposits at a Former Uranium Mine in Eastern Finland

Received: 21 August 2019     Accepted: 10 September 2019     Published: 27 September 2019
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Abstract

Leaching of metals (Fe, Mn, Cu, Co, Ni, Zn, Cr, Cd, Pb) and arsenic from mine wastes and their accumulation in waters, soils and sediments have been determined at the former Paukkajanvaara uranium mine in Eastern Finland. A small-scale test mine, operating in 1959-1960, generated 7,300m3 of waste rock and 12,000m3 of mill tailings, which were covered with soil and till in the early 1990s. These two materials, waste rock and mill tailings, were studied as possible sources for metal contamination in surrounding water systems. Water samples from a nearby pond and streams flowing from the site into the pond were collected. In addition, soil, pond sediment and mill tailings samples were taken and metals were leached from them with strong acids. Metal concentrations in the water samples and acid leachates were measured with ICP-MS. Nickel and arsenic concentrations in stream water were seen slightly elevated when compared to natural Finnish waters and metal concentrations in lake sediments show an increasing trend with time, both indicating long term leaching of metals from the waste deposits. All other metal concentration measurements revealed no elevated concentrations. In conclusion, we may state that the site is not a big if any threat to the environment and humans.

Published in International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis (Volume 7, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijema.20190704.12
Page(s) 85-92
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Mill Tailings, Waste Rock, Mobilization, Potentially Harmful Metals, Uranium Mine

References
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[2] Li, Z., Ma, Z, Janvan, van der Kuijp, T. J., Yuan, Z., and Huang, L. 2014, A review of soil heavy metal pollution from mines in China; Pollution and health risk assessment, Science of the Total Environment 468-469; 843-853.
[3] Abraham, J., Dowling, K. and Florentine, S. 2018. Assessment of potentially toxic metal contamination in the soils of a legacy mine site in Central Victoria, Australia, Chemosphere 192; 122-132.
[4] Ebenebe, P. C., Shale, K., Sedibe, M., Tiklili, P. and Achilonu, M. C. 2017. South African mine effluents; Heavy metal pollution and impact on the ecosystem, International Journal of Chemical Sciences 15 (4); 1-12.
[5] Mustonen R., Ikäheimonen T. K., Salonen L. and Sillanpää T. 1989. Uraanin louhinnan ja rikastuksen radiologiset ympäristövaikutukset Enon Paukkajanvaarassa. Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, Report STUK-B-VALO 61.
[6] Colpaert A. 2006. The forgotten uranium mine of Paukkajanvaara, North Karelia, Finland. Nordia Geographical Publications 35; 31-38.
[7] Räisänen K. 1961. Atomienergia Oy; n toimesta suoritetut uraanimalmien louhinta ja rikastuskokeilut vv. 1958-1961. Vuoriteollisuus – Bergshanteringen 2; 34-43.
[8] Sillanpää T., Ikäheimonen T., Salonen L., Taipale T. and Mustonen R. 1989. Paukkajanvaaran vanhan uraanikaivos- ja rikastamoalueen ja sen ympäristön radioaktiivisuustutkimukset. Report STUK-B-VALO 56, Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety.
[9] Tuovinen H., Pohjolainen E, Vesterbacka D., Kaksonen K., Virkanen J., Solatie D., Lehto J. and Reid D 2016. Release of radionuclides from waste rock and tailings at a former pilot uranium mine in eastern Finland. Boreal Environment Research 21; 471-480.
[10] Dreesen, D. R., Williams, J. M., Marple, M. L., Gladney, E. S. and Perrin, D. R. 1982. Mobility and bioavailability of uranium mill tailings contaminants, Environmental Science and Technology 16; 702-709.
[11] Landa, E. 1999. Geochemical and biogeochemical controls on element mobility in and around uranium mill tailings. In; Filipek, L., Plumlee, G. (Eds.) Environmental Geochemistry of Mineral Deposits, Part B. Case studies and Research Topics, Reviews in Economic Geology, Vol. 6B, Littleton, Society of Economic Geologists, 527-538.
[12] Lottermoser, B. 2007. Mine wastes. Characterization, Treatment, Environmental Impacts. Second Edition. Springer, Berlin. 304.
[13] Piirainen, T. 1968. Die Petrologie und die Uranlagerstätten de Koli-Kaltimogebiets im finnischen Nordkarelien. Bulletin of Geological Society of Finland. N; o 237, 99p.
[14] Makkonen H. T., Mikkonen J. A., Ruotanen K. E., Tanskanen P. A.. Uusikartano A. J., Vuollo J. I. 1988. Paukkajanvaaran uraanimineralisaatiot. Pohjois-Karjalan malmiprojekti. Raportti 17. Oulu, Oulun yliopisto.
[15] Tuovinen H., Vesterbacka D., Pohjolainen E., Read D., Solatie D. and Lehto, J. 2015 A Comparison of analytical methods for determining uranium and thorium in ores and mill tailings, Journal of Geochemical Exploration 148; 74-180.
[16] Lahermo P., Väänänen P., Tarvainen T. and Salminen R. 1996. The Geochemical Atlas of Finland, Part 3; Environmental Geochemistry-stream waters and sediments. Geological Survey of Finland.
[17] Koljonen T. (ed.) 1992. The Geochemical Atlas of Finland, Part 2; Till. Geological Survey of Finland.
[18] Lehto J., Lusa M., Virkanen J., Paatero J., Várkonyi G., Heikkilä R., Kashevarov B. and. Ieshko E. 2010. Metal distribution in lakes surrounding the Kostomuksha iron mine and ore dressing mill in Northwestern Russia, Air, Soil and Water Research 3; 67-77.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Hanna Tuovinen, Daniela Vesterbacka, Kai Kaksonen, Juhani Virkanen, David Read, et al. (2019). Release of Base and Potentially Harmful Metals from Waste Deposits at a Former Uranium Mine in Eastern Finland. International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, 7(4), 85-92. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20190704.12

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    ACS Style

    Hanna Tuovinen; Daniela Vesterbacka; Kai Kaksonen; Juhani Virkanen; David Read, et al. Release of Base and Potentially Harmful Metals from Waste Deposits at a Former Uranium Mine in Eastern Finland. Int. J. Environ. Monit. Anal. 2019, 7(4), 85-92. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20190704.12

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    AMA Style

    Hanna Tuovinen, Daniela Vesterbacka, Kai Kaksonen, Juhani Virkanen, David Read, et al. Release of Base and Potentially Harmful Metals from Waste Deposits at a Former Uranium Mine in Eastern Finland. Int J Environ Monit Anal. 2019;7(4):85-92. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20190704.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijema.20190704.12,
      author = {Hanna Tuovinen and Daniela Vesterbacka and Kai Kaksonen and Juhani Virkanen and David Read and Dina Solatie and Jukka Lehto},
      title = {Release of Base and Potentially Harmful Metals from Waste Deposits at a Former Uranium Mine in Eastern Finland},
      journal = {International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis},
      volume = {7},
      number = {4},
      pages = {85-92},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijema.20190704.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20190704.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijema.20190704.12},
      abstract = {Leaching of metals (Fe, Mn, Cu, Co, Ni, Zn, Cr, Cd, Pb) and arsenic from mine wastes and their accumulation in waters, soils and sediments have been determined at the former Paukkajanvaara uranium mine in Eastern Finland. A small-scale test mine, operating in 1959-1960, generated 7,300m3 of waste rock and 12,000m3 of mill tailings, which were covered with soil and till in the early 1990s. These two materials, waste rock and mill tailings, were studied as possible sources for metal contamination in surrounding water systems. Water samples from a nearby pond and streams flowing from the site into the pond were collected. In addition, soil, pond sediment and mill tailings samples were taken and metals were leached from them with strong acids. Metal concentrations in the water samples and acid leachates were measured with ICP-MS. Nickel and arsenic concentrations in stream water were seen slightly elevated when compared to natural Finnish waters and metal concentrations in lake sediments show an increasing trend with time, both indicating long term leaching of metals from the waste deposits. All other metal concentration measurements revealed no elevated concentrations. In conclusion, we may state that the site is not a big if any threat to the environment and humans.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Release of Base and Potentially Harmful Metals from Waste Deposits at a Former Uranium Mine in Eastern Finland
    AU  - Hanna Tuovinen
    AU  - Daniela Vesterbacka
    AU  - Kai Kaksonen
    AU  - Juhani Virkanen
    AU  - David Read
    AU  - Dina Solatie
    AU  - Jukka Lehto
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20190704.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijema.20190704.12
    T2  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    JF  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    JO  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    SP  - 85
    EP  - 92
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7667
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20190704.12
    AB  - Leaching of metals (Fe, Mn, Cu, Co, Ni, Zn, Cr, Cd, Pb) and arsenic from mine wastes and their accumulation in waters, soils and sediments have been determined at the former Paukkajanvaara uranium mine in Eastern Finland. A small-scale test mine, operating in 1959-1960, generated 7,300m3 of waste rock and 12,000m3 of mill tailings, which were covered with soil and till in the early 1990s. These two materials, waste rock and mill tailings, were studied as possible sources for metal contamination in surrounding water systems. Water samples from a nearby pond and streams flowing from the site into the pond were collected. In addition, soil, pond sediment and mill tailings samples were taken and metals were leached from them with strong acids. Metal concentrations in the water samples and acid leachates were measured with ICP-MS. Nickel and arsenic concentrations in stream water were seen slightly elevated when compared to natural Finnish waters and metal concentrations in lake sediments show an increasing trend with time, both indicating long term leaching of metals from the waste deposits. All other metal concentration measurements revealed no elevated concentrations. In conclusion, we may state that the site is not a big if any threat to the environment and humans.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Chemistry, Radiochemistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

  • Department of Chemistry, Radiochemistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

  • Department of Chemistry, Radiochemistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

  • Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

  • Department of Chemistry, University of Surrey & National Physical Laboratory, Guildford, UK

  • Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, Rovaniemi, Finland

  • Department of Chemistry, Radiochemistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

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