Renáta FĽAKOVÁ^1*, Zlatica ŽENIŠOVÁ², David KRČMÁŘ³, Ivana ONDREJKOVÁ⁴ & Ondra SRACEK^5
1Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Natural Science, Department of Hydrogeology, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava 4, Slovak Republic, rflakova@gmail.com
²Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Natural Science, Department of Hydrogeology, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava 4, Slovak Republic, zenisova@fns.uniba.sk
³Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Natural Science, Department of Hydrogeology, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova6, 842 15 Bratislava 4, Slovak Republic, krcmar@fns.uniba.sk
⁴Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Natural Science, Department of Hydrogeology, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova6, 842 15 Bratislava 4, Slovak Republic, ondrejkova.iva@gmail.com
⁵Palacký University Olomouc, Faculty of Science, Department of Geology, 17. listopadu 12, 771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republik, srondra@seznam.cz

OCCURRENCE OF ANTIMONY AND ARSENIC AT MINING SITES IN SLOVAKIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR THEIR MOBILITY

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Antimony and arsenic are the main contaminants in surface and groundwater from mining activity in the ore deposit areas in Slovakia (Slovenské rudohorie Mts., Nízke Tatry Mts. and Malé Karpaty Mts.). The highest dissolved concentrations of antimony were found in outflow from the Samuel Adit (9.3 mg/L) in Dúbrava and from the Jozef Adit (3.54 mg/L) in Čučma. The highest dissolved concentrations of arsenic were found in the outflow from the Agnes Adit (2.4 mg/L) in Poproč and from the Gabriela Adit (1.35 mg/L) in Čučma. Dissolution of stibnite is faster, compared to arsenopyrite and the early coatings on arsenopyrite grains are enriched in antimony. Dissolved concentrations of antimony in Dúbrava site are probably the highest reported concentrations in mine drainage in the world. Principal attenuation process for both contaminants is their adsorption on hydrous ferric oxides (HFO) and arsenic shows stronger partitioning and higher contents in sediments than antimony. Mass flux calculations indicated much more significant input of both antimony and arsenic from mine adits, compared to ground water seepage. Remediation of mining sites should be therefore focused on capture and treatment of mine adits’ water.