Water Wheel July/Aug 2024: Opinion

Abstract

OPINION Mine drainage and rehabilitation: some comments “Our forebears deferred the environmental costs associated with mining, and we now have to pay those costs. Are we going to do the same to future generations? If we do, their problems are likely to be far more severe than ours because the effects are cumulative and in the future, once mining is on the wane, the funds to address the problem might not be readily available.” (McCarthy 2011:1) Water with increased acid content as well as acid-neutral metal-rich water from obsolete metal mines is often a source of pollution for rivers (Nordstrom 2011). The former contain metals such as iron, copper, and aluminum, while the latter may contain arsenic, antimony, and uranium, among others. The contamination of both surface and groundwater can result from poor or faulty water drainage systems (adits) in wellmapped mines. In many cases, however, it also stems from mines that have long been closed and for which there is little if any historical data.

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