Watergenics AISRAS : Addressing Problems of In-Situ, Real-Time Measurement of Total Iron and Sulfate Concentrations from Natural Acid Rock Drainage in the Andes

International Conference on Mine Water Solutions (5th : 2025)

Watergenics AISRAS : Addressing Problems of In-Situ, Real-Time Measurement of Total Iron and Sulfate Concentrations from Natural Acid Rock Drainage in the Andes Grafe, Bruno; Johnson, Philip; Srivastava, Shashank; Stolzenberg, Sebastian; Tugaoen, Heather; Mantescu, Liviu

Abstract

Our study compares the performance of real-time augmented in-situ Raman spectroscopy (AISRAS) with laboratory ion chromatography in a remote post-mining site in the Andes. We measured two points over four months, one with high levels of sulfate and total iron in the waters and one with low levels. Laboratory ion chromatography tests serve as a reference. The results suggest that AISRAS performs very well in the harsh weather conditions of the Andes highlands, even in shallow waters with high suspended and dissolved solids concentrations. The AISRAS technology has proven to be an effective solution for real-time monitoring of sulfate and total iron in naturally formed acid-rock drainage. Daily fluctuations and long-term trends were identified, with an average deviation for sulfate of 4.7% and for total iron of 7.9% compared to the ion chromatography laboratory tests. The recommended maintenance of the ABAIA probe lens was every 25 days.

Item Metadata

Title	Watergenics AISRAS : Addressing Problems of In-Situ, Real-Time Measurement of Total Iron and Sulfate Concentrations from Natural Acid Rock Drainage in the Andes
Creator	Grafe, Bruno; Johnson, Philip; Srivastava, Shashank; Stolzenberg, Sebastian; Tugaoen, Heather; Mantescu, Liviu
Contributor	International Conference on Mine Water Solutions (5th : 2025 : Vancouver, Canada); Bradshaw Research Institute for Minerals and Mining
Date Issued	2025-06-17
Description	Our study compares the performance of real-time augmented in-situ Raman spectroscopy (AISRAS) with laboratory ion chromatography in a remote post-mining site in the Andes. We measured two points over four months, one with high levels of sulfate and total iron in the waters and one with low levels. Laboratory ion chromatography tests serve as a reference. The results suggest that AISRAS performs very well in the harsh weather conditions of the Andes highlands, even in shallow waters with high suspended and dissolved solids concentrations. The AISRAS technology has proven to be an effective solution for real-time monitoring of sulfate and total iron in naturally formed acid-rock drainage. Daily fluctuations and long-term trends were identified, with an average deviation for sulfate of 4.7% and for total iron of 7.9% compared to the ion chromatography laboratory tests. The recommended maintenance of the ABAIA probe lens was every 25 days.
Subject	Mining; Mine Water
Genre	Conference Paper
Type	Text
Language	eng
Date Available	2025-07-11
Provider	Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI	10.14288/1.0449351
URI	http://hdl.handle.net/2429/91568
Affiliation	Non UBC
Peer Review Status	Unreviewed
Scholarly Level	Other
Rights URI	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository	DSpace

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International Conference on Mine Water Solutions (5th : 2025)