Faro Waste Rock Project: Characterizing geochemical heterogeneity in sulfide- and carbonate-rich waste rock

摘要: Abstract Sustained oxidation of sulfide minerals in waste rock generates acid mine drainage for time frames hundreds to thousands years. Management minimize long-term degradation water supplies and ecosystem health requires a thorough understanding geochemical processes occurring within the rock. A comprehensive field investigation was conducted on carbonate-rich waste-rock dumps at Faro Mine Complex, south-central Yukon Territory, Canada. This included installation three highly instrumented boreholes, situ measurements physical parameters (e.g., content, temperature, air permeability, pore-gas O2 CO2 concentration), collection pore-water, pore-gas, solid-phase samples. Field laboratory indicate is lithologically mineralogically segregated, with sulfide-rich (>20 wt% S) dominating lower benches (20–50 mbgs) carbonate-bearing upper other parts dumps. The observed segregation strongly influences spatial variability parameters. Three distinct zones are dumps, including rapid O2-supply zone, near-atmospheric concentrations (0–30 mbgs); strong O2-depletion zone (30–50 mbgs), characterized by abundant significant depletion