Hard-Rock Mining Contamination
Information on Contamination Associated with Active and Abandoned Hard Rock Mining
Thousands of historical hard-rock (gold, copper, and zinc) mines
exist across the Western United States. Mine dumps, tailing piles,
and unmined mineral deposits can contaminate the surrounding watershed
when weathering of exposed minerals causes acid drainage and metals-enriched
waters. Research, focusing on the processes that affect migration
of contamination and ecological effects, are underway in watersheds
with differing climate and hydrologic settings. Results are being
used and demonstrated through the USGS Abandoned Mine Lands Initiative.
Headlines
Meeting Highlights
- USGS co-sponsors Special Session "Integrated
Studies of the Effects of Abandoned Mines on the Environment"
at the Geological Society of America's 2002 Annual Meeting, Denver,
Colorado October 27-30, 2002
- USGS co-sponsors special session on the Influence
of Natural and Anthropogenic Processes on Mercury Cycling in Mine-Dominated
Aquatic Ecosystems at the American Geophysical Union's (AGU)
2001 Fall Meeting, San Francisco, California, December 10-14,
2001.
- The
Fifth International Conference on Acid Mine Drainage, Denver,
Colorado, May 21-24, 2000 was co-sponsored by the Toxics Program.
Toxics Program Abandoned Mine Lands Investigations
Fact Sheets
Links to USGS Information on Abandoned Mine Lands and Contamination
from Hard Rock Mining
Bibliographies
|
