Proceedings_Theme_01_Proceedings IMWA 2011 22/08/2011 12:36 AM Page 3 Aachen, Germany “Mine Water – Managing the Challenges” IMWA 2011 assessment of the quality of Block 4 pit water at Iduapriem gold Mine, tarkwa, ghana Michael Sandow Ali¹, William Addo² ¹Environmental Protection Agency, PO Box 1, Tarkwa, W/R, Ghana, West Africa, [email protected] ²AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Limited, PO Box 273, Tarkwa, W/R, Ghana, West Africa, [email protected] abstract In AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Ltd (AAIL), large quantities of colloidal mine water was found in the Block 2/3 in-pit tailings storage facility. The water contained high concentrations of free cyanide, turbidity, conductivity and selected metals and arsenic. The mine constructed a treatment facility in collaboration with Pollution to Water (P2W) and Israeli Company that efficiently removed free cyanides and turbidity, and decreased the pH. Since the quality never met all the sector specific effluent guidelines, the partially treated water had to be stored in the block 4 pit (approximately 1.83 million cubic meters). This study aimed at as- sessing the current water quality of the Block 4 pit for an informed decision. Samples of water were taken at surface, middle and bottom layers of the pit for the analyses of metals and arsenic and relevant physiochem- ical variables indicative of pollution. It is evident from the sequence that metal and arsenic concentration of the surface water layer is a reflection of the entire water column. It was recommended that media filters and reverse osmosis be installed to handle the rest of the parameters in the block 4 pit water and any other waters on the mine for it to meet the EPA sector effluent discharge limits. Key Words Cyanide, ozone, reverse osmosis, media filter Introduction was deposited from P2W plant with the remainder AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Limited (AAIL) is a contributed through direct rainfall (and runoff) gold mining company registered in Ghana as a and purported seepages from Block 2/3 pit. subsidiary of the AngloGold Ashanti Ghana (AGA). An enforcement notice was issued by the AAIL mines ore by conventional open pit methods. Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to Gold bearing ore are processed through a refrac- AAIL to decommission of the Block 2/3 Tailings tory gold process consisting of milling, leaching Storage Facility, which was operated beyond capac- (aggressive cyanide leach) and adsorption (CIP). ity. It was against this background that bathymet- The carbon used in the adsorption tanks recovers ric and water quality assessment was carried out the gold cyanide complex ions out of solution. to ascertain the quality of Block 4 pit. Very often, cyanidation process ensures between 95 – 99% recoveries of gold (Marsden and Fuerste- Methods and Materials nau 1993). The residual process water after the re- Field studies were commissioned from early 2010. covery contains major chemical constituents Water sampling was carried out along 6 stations. notably cyanide and other metals that form com- An inflatable dingy was used to navigate (using plexes with cyanide. AAIL currently treats its su- etrex GPS) to the locations. An ACL-1180 Data Log- pernatant solutions using Pollution to water ging CTD (ACL-1180 Data Logging CTD) was de- (P2W) where cyanide degradation and turbidity re- ployed from surface to bottom at each station to moval are achieved making use of the ozone measure profiles of selected water quality param- process. The Ozone process alone destroys about eters (i.e., depth, salinity, conductivity, density and 80% of the cyanide. This is followed by oxidation turbidity). Further, a Nansen water sampler was of residual cyanide by the addition of sodium utilized to collect water samples from bottom and hypochlorite, pH adjustment by addition of sul- middle water layers. Geosatellite positioning phuric acid, and finally passes solution through (fixed with a Garmin Etrex GPS) of all locations Ultra Violet (UV) light for UV oxidation. Ozone and the respective depths recorded). Ekman grab combined with UV light can oxidize all cyanide was intended to collect sediment samples at the metal complexes. The treated water was then de- locations but sediment sample was not retrieved posited into a Block 4 pit intended to be used for due to the hard nature of bottom substrate. production activities and further treatment. Analyses carried out for the water samples Currently, the Block 4 pit (mined out pit) holds were nutrients (i.e. nitrate, orthophosphate and approximately 1.83 million m³ of water, as at the sulphate), metals (Cu, Cr, Cd, Fe, Mn, and Zn), ar- first quarter of 2010 (EMP 2010). The mines an- senic and other water quality parameters (pH, Al- nual environmental report for 2009 indicates that kalinity, conductivity, dissolved solids, turbidity, approximately 1.5 million m³ of water in Block 4 COD & free cyanide; Chapman 1996). Rüde, Freund # Wolkersdorfer (Editors) 3 Proceedings_Theme_01_Proceedings IMWA 2011 22/08/2011 12:36 AM Page 4 IMWA 2011 “Mine Water – Managing the Challenges” Aachen, Germany Analysis of nitrate, phosphate, silicate, sulfate, high pH values could be linked to supernatant so- turbidity, conductivity and total dissolved solids lutions from tailings, which value is close to a pH were carried out using data-logging spectropho- of 10.5 during the cyanidation process for gold re- tometer HACH 2010 following standard methods covery. (APHA 2005). pH was determined with a pH meter Electrical conductivity and total dissolved (Wagtech). Metals and arsenic were analyzed solids were higher than EPA limits in the surface using the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer and middle water layers, whereas in the bottom (Teledyne Leeman Labs). layer values were within limits. The conductivity and TDS showed declension with water depth in results and Discussions that bottom waters recorded lower values com- The distribution of the mean and standard devia- pared to surface and middle. This observation is tions of CTD data (Conductivity, Temperature, and indicative of ion-rich water overlying the surface Depth) across the sampling sites depict a rela- (Koerselman 1989). It further indicates non-mix- tively similar pattern except turbidity (Fig. 1). ing of surface and bottom waters which is corrob- Mean average turbidity of the water was 132.8±16.7 orated by the significant difference obtained NTU, higher than the regulatory standard of EPA between surface and bottom waters (One-way (75 NTU). Average turbidity values across all loca- ANOSIM, p=0.006) utilizing all the dataset. Con- tions were non-compliant (Fig. 1) and the depth- ductivity itself is not a human or aquatic health related variations of temperature, conductivity, concern, but can serve as an indicator of other and salinity were not apparent. water quality problems. Elevated conductivity of Summary of the results of the water quality as- water indicates a source of dissolved ions in the sessment in Block 4 pit is shown in table 1, while vicinity. The conductivity showed strong correla- the mean concentrations of individual sampling tions with some of the metals including copper stations are shown in tables 2 and 3. As indicated, (r=0.66) and chromium (r=0.53) at 95% confidence pH values across the stations table 1 were uniform interval. Turbidity concentrations ranked highest and moderately basic but higher than the permis- generally in the bottom water samples. Values sible limit (6—9) of Ghana EPA (EPA 2000). The recorded for surface and middle water column Figure 1 Mean distribution of conductivity, salinity, temperature and turbidity of block sampling loca- tions. Error bars indicate 95% confidence interval. 4 Rüde, Freund # Wolkersdorfer (Editors) Proceedings_Theme_01_Proceedings IMWA 2011 22/08/2011 12:36 AM Page 5 Aachen, Germany “Mine Water – Managing the Challenges” IMWA 2011 EPA Table 1 Mean concentra- Entire Guideline tions of water quality in Parameter Surface Middle Bottom layer Value Block 4 of AAIL with aster- pH 9.85* 9.94* 9.91* 9.90* 6.0-9.0 isks if >EPA limit. Conductivity (µS/cm) 1592* 1537.33* 1449.67 1526.33* 1500 TDS (mg/L) 1094.50* 1067.17* 1025.83* 1062.50* 1000 Turbidity (NTU) 34.33 44.17 416.67* 165.06* 75.0 Nitrates (mg/L) 8.27 8.50 7.83 8.53 50.0 Phosphate (mg/L) 1.29 1.43 1.50 1.41 2.0 Sulphate (mg/L) 435.00 433.33 438.33 435.56 250 Free cyanide (mg/L) 0.37* 0.17 0.16 0.23* 0.2 Arsenic (mg/L) 1.54* 0.09 0.75 0.79 1.0 Cadmium (mg/L) 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.1 Chromium (mg/L) 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 5.0 Copper (mg/L) 12.53* 9.21* 8.49* 10.08* 5.0 Iron (mg/L) 0.17 0.10 0.16 0.14 10.0 Manganese (mg/L) 0.05 0.06 0.08 0.06 0.30 Zinc (mg/L) 0.02 0.03 0.02 0.02 10.0 Cond. Turbidity Table 2 Mean physico- Sample ID pH (µS/cm) (NTU) TDS NO3 PO4 SO4 Free CN chemical parameters. BLK4- 1S 9.85 1593 34 1095 9.2 1.41 420 0.19 BLK-4 1M 9.93 1497 45 1047 9.6 1.28 420 0.15 BLK4-1B 9.88 1438 75 1020 7.8 1.4 440 0.12 EPA Limit 6-9 1500 75 1000 50 2.0 250 0.2 All other concentration values are in mgL-1 Sample ID As Mn Zn Fe Cu Cr Cd Table 3 Mean concentra- BLK4- S 1.54* 0.05 0.02 0.17 12.53* 0.01 0.03 tion of arsenic and se- BLK-4 M 0.09 0.06 0.03 0.02 9.21* 0.01 0.03 lected metals.