Mineralogical and geochemical spatial analyses of a waste-rock dump at the Libiola Fe–Cu sulphide mine (Eastern Liguria, Italy)

In this work, we investigated a 3 ha sulphide-bearing waste-rock dump (Libiola Mine, Italy) using mineralogical, geochemical, and geostatistical analyses. The dumped materials were highly heterogeneous in grain size and lithology and varied both laterally and vertically. Other than the host rock of the ore, basalts and serpentinites, the dumped materials contained high amounts of low-grade chalcopyrite- and pyrite-rich mineralisations. Due to these characteristics and to the absence of minerals able to neutralise acidity, this waste-rock dump can be classified as an acid mine drainage (AMD) producer. The study confirms that AMD is still active and, in the best scenario, can persist for up to 6.17 × 10³ years. The consequences of this process are of serious environmental concern as it involves strong acidification of the circulating waters, the release of potentially toxic metals into the soil, streams and rivers and the precipitation of huge quantities of secondary Fe-oxides and Fe-oxyhydroxides.