Dilution versus pollution in watercourses afffected by acid mine drainage: a graphic model for the Iberian pyrite belt (SW Spain).

The Iberian pyrite belt is a metallogenic province with many abandoned mines, though Cobre las Cruces and Aguas Tenidas are still operating and others may reopen; the magnitude and ubiquity of their discharges make the belt a unique source of acid mine drainage (AMD) generation. The water quality impacts of the 88 AMD-generating mines in the Spanish sector of the belt were chemically characterised under EU and more local requirements that water quality be improved enough for at least some rivers in the belt to sustain healthy fish populations by 2027. The results indicate a clear decrease in metal, As and SO4 concentrations and increased pH between the sources of acid mine drainage and the river channels.
The Iberian pyrite belt is a metallogenic province with many abandoned mines, though Cobre las Cruces and Aguas Tenidas are still operating and others may reopen; the magnitude and ubiquity of their discharges make the belt a unique source of acid mine drainage (AMD) generation. The water quality impacts of the 88 AMD-generating mines in the Spanish sector of the belt were chemically characterised under EU and more local requirements that water quality be improved enough for at least some rivers in the belt to sustain healthy fish populations by 2027. The results indicate a clear decrease in metal, As and SO4 concentrations and increased pH between the sources of acid mine drainage and the river channels.