Erika LEVEI¹, Marius ROMAN¹, Mirela MICLEAN¹, Gheorghe BORODI²& Marin SENILA^1
1INCDO-INOE 2000 Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation, 67 Donath Street, 400293 Cluj-Napoca,
Romania, e-mail: erika.levei@icia.ro
²National Institute for Research and Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies, 65-103 Donath, 400293
Cluj-Napoca, Romania

ACID MINE DRAINAGE PREDICTION FOR TAILINGS IN THE BAIA MARE AND SOUTHERN APUSENI MINING AREAS, ROMANIA

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To predict the acid mine drainage potential of tailings from Baia Mare (Bozanta and Sasar) and Southern Apuseni (Ribita and Mialu) mining areas, acid base accounting test, pH, sulphur, total carbon and metal contents of wastes were determined. The results revealed high Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, As, Fe concentrations in all studied tailings. The highest metal concentrations were determined in the Bozanta tailing impoundment. The net neutralization potential and neutralization potential ratio revealed that tailings stored in the Mialu, Sasar and Bozanta impoundments are possible acid mine drainage sources and thus can pose contamination risk for the environment. The tailings from Ribita deposit have low sulphur content and high neutralization potential and thus very low acid mine drainage potential.