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Published in:
2006 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
A method to measure arsenic readily released to pore waters from uranium mill tailings
Authors : John Mahoney, Donald Langmuir, John Rowson
Published in: Uranium in the Environment
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
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A method to quantify the amount of readily released arsenic in uranium mill tailings was developed using a technique known as
E
quilibrium
P
artitioning
I
n
C
losed
S
ystems (EPICS). The method employs a gentle leaching solution that, except for its arsenic (As) concentration, is identical to the neutralized raffinate that contacts the tailings. Prior to implementation, the experimental design and mathematical approach were verified in geochemical models using PHREEQC. Laboratory experiments using tailings from the Athabasca Basin of Northern Saskatchewan demonstrated that As that could be readily released to pore waters is about 0.2 % of the total As in the tailings.