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Oil, Gas & Mining vocabulary · Environmental Impact & Closure

acid mine drainage (AMD)

Meaning in oil, gas & mining, with examples

nounCommon term

In oil, gas & mining, acid mine drainage (AMD) means: Acidic, metal-rich water that forms when sulphide minerals such as pyrite in mine waste or workings meet air and water. It can pollute rivers for decades.

In Turkish: asit maden drenajı, asidik maden suyu

How it is used

Also called acid rock drainage (ARD). It is one of the most serious long-term environmental problems in metal and coal mining. Engineers test waste rock for its acid-generating potential, cover reactive waste and treat the water, for example with lime.

Example sentences

  1. Acid mine drainage from the abandoned mine has turned the stream orange.

  2. The treatment plant neutralises acid mine drainage with lime before the water is released.

Common collocations

  • acid rock drainage (ARD)
  • treat acid mine drainage
  • acid-generating waste
  • water treatment
  • tailingsThe finely ground rock and water left over after the valuable minerals have been removed from ore in a processing plant.
  • tailings damAn embankment built to hold mine tailings and water in a storage area. If it fails, a flood of mud can destroy villages and rivers downstream.
  • reclamationReturning land disturbed by mining or drilling to a safe, stable and useful condition, for example by reshaping waste dumps, spreading topsoil and planting vegetation.
  • leachingDissolving a metal out of ore with a chemical solution, for example cyanide for gold or sulphuric acid for copper, and then recovering the metal from the solution.

More terms: Environmental Impact & Closure

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