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Geophysical Study of a Potential Source of Secondary Raw Materials - The Aijala Mine Tailings Area Southern Finland
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, 23rd European Meeting of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics, Sep 2017, Volume 2017, p.1 - 5
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Abstract
We describe here a tailings ponds’ potential to be a source of secondary raw minerals. This tailings pond was targeted as a study site because two mines, Aijala and Metsämonttu, from which the tailings are from, have been closed several decades ago, and therefore the tailings material might contain significant amounts of minerals which could be utilized with the modern processes. Geophysical measurements of gravity, magnetic, electromagnetic and electrical resistivity tomography were made to find out the dimensions and the inner structure of the tailings pond. By combining the results of geophysics and geochemistry sampling we estimated the mineral reserves and the amount of metals (Cu, Zn, Ag and Pb) within the tailings material. The Aijala tailings pond is one of the Finnish pilot areas of EU funded SMART GROUND project with focuses on the secondary raw material.