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Geochemical Controls on Uranium Release from Neutral-pH Rock Drainage Produced by Weathering of Granite, Gneiss, and Schist Skierszkan, Elliott Karl; Dockrey, John W.; Mayer, K. Ulrich; Bondici, Viorica F.; McBeth, Joyce M.; Beckie, Roger D.

Abstract

We investigated geochemical processes controlling uranium release in neutral-pH (pH ≥ 6) rock drainage (NRD) at a prospective gold deposit hosted in granite, schist, and gneiss. Although uranium is not an economic target at this deposit, it is present in the host rock at a median abundance of 3.7 µg/g, i.e., above the average uranium content of the Earth’s crust. Field bin and column waste-rock weathering experiments using gneiss and schist mine waste rock produced circumneutral-pH (7.6 to 8.4) and high-alkalinity (41 to 499 mg/L as CaCO₃) drainage, while granite produced drainage with lower pH (pH 4.7 to >8) and lower alkalinity (

Item Metadata

Title
Geochemical Controls on Uranium Release from Neutral-pH Rock Drainage Produced by Weathering of Granite, Gneiss, and Schist
Creator
Skierszkan, Elliott Karl; Dockrey, John W.; Mayer, K. Ulrich; Bondici, Viorica F.; McBeth, Joyce M.; Beckie, Roger D.
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2020-12-09
Description
We investigated geochemical processes controlling uranium release in neutral-pH (pH ≥ 6) rock drainage (NRD) at a prospective gold deposit hosted in granite, schist, and gneiss. Although uranium is not an economic target at this deposit, it is present in the host rock at a median abundance of 3.7 µg/g, i.e., above the average uranium content of the Earth’s crust. Field bin and column waste-rock weathering experiments using gneiss and schist mine waste rock produced circumneutral-pH (7.6 to 8.4) and high-alkalinity (41 to 499 mg/L as CaCO₃) drainage, while granite produced drainage with lower pH (pH 4.7 to >8) and lower alkalinity (
Subject
uranium; sorption; neutral-rock drainage; mine waste rock; geochemical modeling; weathering; aqueous complexation
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2021-01-06
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0395471
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/76984
Affiliation
Science, Faculty of; Non UBC; Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of
Citation
Minerals 10 (12): 1104 (2020)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/min10121104
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

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CC BY 4.0