Relationships Between the Microbial Composition and the Geochemistry and Mineralogy of the Cobalt-Bearing Legacy Mine Tailings in Northeastern Ontario.

ABSTRACT: Mine tailings host dynamic biogeochemical processes that can mobilize a range of elements from the host material and release them into the environment through acidic, neutral, or alkaline mine drainage. Here we use a combination of mineralogical, geochemical, and microbiological techniques that provide a better understanding of biogeochemical processes within the surficial layers of neutral cobalt and arsenic-rich tailings material at Cobalt, ON, Canada. Tailings material within 30-cm depth profiles from three tailings sites (sites A, B, and C) were characterized for their mineralogical, chemical and microbial community compositions. The tailings material at all sites contains (sulf)arsenides (safflorite, arsenopyrite), and arsenates (erythrite and annabergite). Site A contained a higher a

SUBMITTER: Courchesne B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8485068 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature