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Summary: EVALUATION OF HYDRAULIC RESIDENCE TIME IN THE
LIMESTONE DRAINS OF THE LORRAINE SITE, LATULIPPE, QUÉBEC1
Abelkabir Maqsoud2
, Bruno Bussière2
, Michel Aubertinl3
, Robin Potvin2
, Johanne Cyr4
Abstract: Acid mine drainage (AMD) remains one of the major environmental
problems of the mining industry. When AMD is present, passive treatment techniques
such as anoxic limestone drains (ALDs) can be used to improve water quality.
Limestone drains were installed in combination with a cover with capillary barrier effects
(CCBE) to rehabilitate the abandoned acid generating Lorraine mine site (near Latulippe,
in Abitibi-Témiscamingue). However, the water quality exiting of the limestone drains
does not meet the standards of the Québec regulation (even if a significant improvement
is observed). To better understand the behaviour of the drains at the Lorraine site, the
hydraulic residence time (HRT) was estimated by various tracer tests. Results showed
that HRT values estimated with the different tracers at different time on two limestone
drains are much lower than typical values for effective ALDs. This could explain, at least
in part, the lower than expected performance. The investigation also showed that tracer
tests are useful tools to characterize the hydrogeological behaviour of limestone drains
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