Papers by Author: F. Glombitza

Abstract: Piles and dumps in mining sites of lignite and ore mines very often generate drainage water with a low pH value. Furthermore they are contaminated with heavy metals or radionuclides. A comprehensive sustainable remediation and / or a water treatment process requires an assessment of the water quality and the determination of the future development thereof. This, in turn, requires prediction of the microbial processes which are responsible for the release of heavy metals and radionuclides. The paper deals with the demonstration of a suitable method for the prediction of these reactions and water quality.

Abstract: Water draining a waste dump at the Hartenstein site of the former uranium mining company SDAG Wismut is characterised by an uranium concentration between 1mg/L and 3 mg/L and a nitrate concentration from 30 mg/L to 120 mg/L. A microbiological process was developed between 2001 - 2003 under laboratory conditions and, after this time, the process was scaled up to a technical plant. The water was treated continuously by a controlled microbiological process under anaerobic conditions with methanol as the sole carbon and energy source. The reduction plant is a basin filled with about 540 m³ of gravel and with a free water volume of about 200 m³. The plant was foreseen for the treatment of a drainage water flow rate of 2 m³/h – 5 m³/h. The residence time of the treated water in the plant comprises 40 h– 100 h according to the water flow. The continuous process started in 2004. The Uranium concentration decreased to values lower than 0.5 mg/L. The arsenic concentration varied in a range from 60 to 80 .g/L after reaching stable anaerobic conditions. The plant worked also during deep temperatures in the wintertime.

Abstract: The Bioshale project, involving 13 partners throughout Europe, is co-funded by the European Commission under the FP6 program. The main objective of this project (which started in October 2004) is to identify and develop innovative biotechnological processes for ‘’eco-efficient’’ exploitation of metal-rich, black shale ores. Three extensive deposits have been selected for R&D actions. These are: (i) a site (in Talvivaara, Finland) that, at the outset of the project, had not been exploited; (ii) a deposit (in Lubin, Poland) that is currently being actively mined, and (iii) a third site (in Mansfeld, Germany) where the ore had been actively mined in the past, but which is no longer exploited. The black shale ores contain base (e.g. copper and nickel), precious (principally silver) and PGM metals, but also high contents of organic matter that potentially handicap metal recovery by conventional techniques. The main technical aspects of the work plan can be summarized as: (i) evaluation of the geological resources and selection of metal-bearing components; (ii) selection of biological consortia to be tested; (iii) assessment of bioprocessing routes, including hydrometallurgical processing; (iv) techno-economic evaluation of new processes from mining to metal recovery including social, and (v) assessing the environmental impacts of biotechnological compared to conventional processing of the ores. An overview of the main results obtained to date are presented, with special emphasis on the development of bioleaching technologies for metal recovery that can be applied to multielement concentrates and black shale ores.