Laserfiche WebLink
7D-9 Mine Report <br />Geoscience Services <br />~~ <br />~~ <br />Evaluation of Potential Contaminant Migration for Uranium Mining <br />Operations at the JD-9 Mine <br />1.0 Introduction <br />The purpose of this report is to evaluate potential environmental impacts of <br />mining operations at the JD-9 mine located south of Monogram Mesa, Colorado. Based <br />on SPLP tests on waste-rock samples requested by the Colorado Division of Mines and <br />Geology (DMG), several constituents of concern were identified that exceed water <br />quality standards. As a result, the Colorado Division of Mines and Geology has <br />requested that a contaminant transport evaluation be conducted to consider the potential <br />impacts to groundwater resources from the ore and waste-rock piles. Specifically, DMG <br />requested calculations to determine if the potential contamination is minimized by the <br />effects of dilution and transport prior to reaching a receiving groundwater aquifer or a <br />receiving surface water body. <br />Geoscience Services has been retained by the Cotter Corporation to conduct an <br />analysis of the transport of potential constituents of concern from the uranium mining <br />operation to the groundwater and nearby surface water receptors in order to fulfill the <br />Colorado Division of Mines and Geology request. Groundwater flow and transport <br />modeling conducted at a similar site (SM-18 mine) will be used to evaluate the potential <br />for environmental impacts from constituents of concern present in the waste rock at the <br />JD-9 mine site. This is a reasonable and cost-effective approach since the geology and <br />potential constituents of concern aze similaz at all of the mining sites in the azea. <br />Differences in the site geology will be identified and the impact on the evaluation study <br />noted. <br />To accomplish this analysis, a groundwater flow and contaminant transport model <br />was developed to predict the environmental impact of mining operations. The numerical <br />code PORFLOW was selected based on the code's ability to simulate multiphase flow <br />and transport, calculate the effects of sorption, and simulate the decay of radionuclides. <br />