Antimony and arsenic dispersion in the Macleay River catchment, New South Wales: a study of the environmental geochemical consequences
| Autor: | B P Graham, Matthew Tighe, Paul M. Ashley, Benjamin J Wolfenden |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2007 |
| Předmět: |
Arsenopyrite
Hydrology geography geography.geographical_feature_category Drainage basin Sediment chemistry.chemical_element Fluvial engineering.material Antimony chemistry visual_art Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) visual_art.visual_art_medium engineering General Earth and Planetary Sciences Pyrite Vein (geology) Stibnite Geology |
| Zdroj: | Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. 54:83-103 |
| ISSN: | 1440-0952 0812-0099 |
| Popis: | A baseline geochemical study of stream sediments and waters of the Macleay River catchment in northeastern New South Wales indicates that although most of the catchment is unaffected by anthropogenic or natural inputs of heavy metals and metalloids, the Bakers Creek – trunk Macleay-floodplain system has been strongly affected by mining-derived Sb and As. The dispersion train from the Hillgrove Sb – Au mining area to the Pacific Ocean is over 300 km in length. Ore and mineralised altered rock from Hillgrove contains vein, breccia-hosted and disseminated stibnite, arsenopyrite, pyrite and traces of gold. Historic (pre-1970) mine-waste disposal practices have resulted in high to extreme contamination of stream sediments and waters by Sb and As for ∼50 km downstream, with high Au values in the sediments. In this high-energy fluvial interval, average values of Sb in stream sediment exceed the catchment background (1.1 ppm Sb) by a factor exceeding 200. Similarly, average As values exceed catchment background (... |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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