Iron Mountain Mine , also known as Richmond Mine in Iron Mountain , is a mine near Redding in Northern California, USA. Geologically classified as "massive sulphide ore deposits", the site was mined for iron, silver, gold, copper, zinc and pyrite intermittently from 1860 to 1963. This mine is a highly acidic source of drainage of mine which also contains large amounts of zinc, copper and cadmium. One of the most toxic waste sites in America, has been listed as a federal Superfund site since 1983.
Video Iron Mountain Mine
Histori Edit
The site is mined by Mountain Copper Company, Ltd., both underground using open pit mining techniques and on the surface in the form of open pit and sidehill mining. As a result, cracked mountains and mineral deposits are exposed to certain oxygen, water and bacteria, resulting in drainage of acid mines.
Although mining operations were discontinued in 1963, underground mining works, waste rock piles, mine tailings piles, and open pit mines were still on site.
This mine was designated as a Superfund site in 1983 and a water treatment plant was built in 1994. In 2000, the government reached a settlement with Aventis CropScience (now part of Bayer) for long-term funding of cleanup efforts.
Maps Iron Mountain Mine
Location and drainage Edit
This mine is located on 40Ã, Â ° 40? 20? N 122Ã, Â ° 31? 40? W in the Klamath Mountains in Shasta County, about 9 miles northwest of Redding. The mining area is drained by several tributaries that eventually enter the Spring Creek Reservoir, formed by the Spring Creek Dam, and finally the Keswick Dam is formed by a dam along the Sacramento River. This reservoir is the main source of drinking water for Redding.
The historic mining activity at the site has broken the mountain, exposing minerals in mountains to the surface of water, rainwater, and oxygen. When pyrite is exposed to moisture and oxygen, form sulfuric acid. This sulfuric acid flows through the mountain and obliterates copper, cadmium, zinc, and other heavy metals. This acid flows out of the seepage and the mine portal. Much of the acid mine drainage is eventually channeled into the Spring Creek Reservoir by a tributary around the mine. The Reclamation Bureau regularly releases acid mine drainage stored into the Keswick Reservoir. The planned release is timed to coincide with the presence of water release from the Shasta Dam. Sometimes, uncontrolled spills and excessive waste of waste have occurred when Spring Creek Reservoir reaches capacity. Without sufficient dilution, this results in the release of dangerous heavy metals into the Sacramento River. About 70,000 people use surface water within 3 miles as their drinking water source. Low pH levels and heavy metal contamination from the mine have led to the virtual elimination of aquatic life in parts of Slickrock Creek, Boulder Creek, and Spring Creek.
Drainage water from the Iron Mountain Mine is the most acidic water found on Earth naturally; some samples collected in 1990 and 1991 have been measured to have a pH value of -3.6. Water temperatures as high as 47 ° C are measured underground.
Drainage water endangers fish, including the winter-controlled Chinook salmon, a federal listed threatened species that appears on the Sacramento River. The killing salmon has been recorded since 1899.
The opening of the mine contains a large stalactite-stalagmite structure that extends from floor to ceiling and consists of rhomboclase and other iron sulphate minerals.
Bacteria and Archaea Edit
Bacteria and archaea that live in mines such as Leptospirillum (bacteria) and Ferropplasma (archaea) are attractive because they can survive in this extreme environment, and because their metabolism contributes to pollution. They form a pink biofilm several millimeters thick that floats on the hot water surface with a pH of 0.8. Since bacteria can not be isolated and cultured, scientists have sequenced the DNA community from five dominant species at once, assembling the genome thereafter. Four new species were identified in this way in 2004. In 2005 the proteins produced by these bacteria were identified; of 2033 proteins found in 572 are unique to this biofilm. In 2006, Baker identified three new archaea, Archaeal Richmond Mine Acidophilic Nanoorganisms.
The bacteria derive carbon from carbon dioxide and nitrogen in the air from the air N 2 gas. They are aerobic and obtain energy by using oxygen to oxidize ferric iron dissolved from iron sulfide rocks; in the process they produce sulfuric acid which releases more metal from the stone. Bacteria belong to the acidophilic acid oxide group of iron oxides.
See also Edit
- List of Superfund sites in California
- Acidophiles in acid drainage mine
References Edit
External links Edit
- Information and links about the Iron Mountain Mine, from the USGS Toxic Hydrology Program
- US EPA Iron Mountain Mine
- Genome News Network
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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