Coupled chemistry and transport modelling of sulphidic waste rock dumps at the Aitik mine site, Sweden

The recently developed geochemical modelling code, SULFIDOX, has been applied to simulate weathering of a waste rock dump at the Aitik mine site, Sweden. SULFIDOX models the key chemical and physical processes in the dump temporally and spatially (in two dimensions). The following processes are represented: gas and heat transport; water infiltration; aqueous speciation; mineral dissolution/oxidation and precipitation. Field observations at the site suggest that sulphide oxidation rates within the dump are variable. Although the major part of the dump is oxidising slowly, there are pockets of more highly oxidising material, particularly toward the dump edges. Using SULFIDOX, several models of the dump were investigated: (i) a dump wholly comprised of slowly oxidising material (representing a case where water flow paths are such that no rapidly oxidising regions are accessed); (ii) a dump wholly comprised of the more rapidly oxidising material (representing the opposite (and probably unlikely) extreme, where water flows only through rapidly oxidising regions in the dump); and (iii) a dump comprising a mixture of both slowly and more rapidly oxidising material, that more closely represents the mix of material in the dump. All the models studied gave O2 depth profiles consistent with those observed in probe holes at the site, and confirmed that only a minimal amount of heat production would be expected in the dump due to the role of exothermic sulphide oxidation reactions. The models suggested that a medium-term steady-state, with respect to effluent chemistry, would be achieved after 3–4 years. Based on sulphide consumption rates during this steady-state period, the time periods required to consume all the sulphide in the dump range from a few hundred to many thousands of years. Using the mixed model, and based on a mixture containing 86% slowly and 14% rapidly oxidising material, the calculated effluent chemistry was in good agreement with the observed effluent chemistry. Improvements with respect to the K concentrations were possible by including precipitation of a K-bearing secondary mineral such a K-jarosite in the model. Results from the more rapidly oxidising model suggested that gypsum precipitation might be expected in those regions of the dump containing this material. In summary, the SULFIDOX modelling code has been used successfully to reproduce observed data for the Aitik waste-rock dump. Using SULFIDOX, valuable insight was gained in relation to the temporal and spatial evolution of the dump.