The contamination of water bodies from heavy metals, either from natural sources or
anthropogenic sources, has become a major concern to the public. Industrial activities with improper
water treatment, and then leach into the water body, have become contaminated and harmful to
consume. Passive remediation is one of the treatments introduced to counter this problem as it is a low
cost but effective technique. After being widely acknowledged and through research conducted, the
most suitable remediation technique found is the permeable reactive barriers (PRBs). PRB is defined
as an in situ permeable treatment zone filled with reactive materials, designed to intercept and
remediate a contaminant plume under natural hydraulic gradients. There have been many findings
made from PRB which can be used to remove contaminants such as heavy metal, chlorinated solvents,
carbonates and aromatic hydrocarbons. The most crucial criteria in making a successful PRB is the
reactive media used to remove contaminants. The current paper presents an overview of the PRB
selective medias that have been used and also the unresolved issue on the long term performance of
PRB. The overall methodology for the application of PRB at a given site is also discussed in this
paper. This inexpensive but effective technique is crucial as a sustainable technology in order to treat
the drainage before it enters water tables to prevent water pollution and can be used as an alternative
raw water source.
Waste rocks are a non-economical by-product of mining operations, which can lock up carbon dioxide into a carbonate form and thereby help reduce greenhouse gases emissions. The aims of this research are to determine the mineral and chemical composition of the sedimentary waste rocks of gold mines and to classify the potential of silicate minerals to be a feedstock for carbonation mineralization. The sampling was undertaken at the Selinsing gold mine, where waste rocks were collected from the waste dump, stockpiles, the borrow pit, and the main pit. The mineralogical and chemical component of the sedimentary waste rocks were explored using X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The findings indicated that the presence of divalent cations, of 55.12% for CaO, 9.09% for MgO, and 16.24% for Fe2O3 from gold mine waste, capable of sequestering carbon dioxide into calcium, magnesium and iron carbonates, respectively, through carbonation of mineral. The domination of silicate minerals such as quartz, muscovite, kaolinite, chlorite, albite, and carbonate minerals such as calcite, have been found to be widespread in sedimentary waste rocks. However, the natural silicates (chlorite, muscovite) and carbonates (calcite) are potential minerals which can be consumed as feedstock for carbonation processes because they contain the magnesium, iron, and calcium elements which can form stable carbonates in the presence of carbon dioxide. The mineralogy and chemical composition of sedimentary waste rocks from the Selinsing gold mine provides a better understanding of the future carbonation reaction to sequester more carbon dioxide in response to climate change.
A non-coastal cockle farming area such as an estuaries zone might become an alternative for continuous and sustainable cockle supply in the future. The main objective of this research is to determine the growth and mortality rate of Tegillarca granosa (T. granosa) within an estuary area. Three cockle plots were allocated along the estuary area of Kongkong Laut (P1, P2, P3) based on the geographical area, from upper to lower part of estuaries. Cockle monitoring activity was conducted from August to December 2015 for both in-situ water parameters and the cockles’ growth increments. This study shows that within a brackish estuarine environment, the highest cockle growth increment was recorded within the highest water salinity trend area (26.92 ± 4.79 ppt; P2), with a shell increment of 2.70 ± 0.52 mm per month, while the lowest cockle growth increment was recorded within the lowest water salinity trend area (17.65 ± 5.73 ppt; P1) with the shell increment of 2.05 ± 0.86 mm per month. One-way ANOVA shows that there was significant difference (p
Sediment has been widely used as a means for assessing the impact of anthropogenic activities on aquatic environment, with metal pollution being the most well-known threat to aquatic environments. Therefore the aim of this study is to identify and determine metal concentrations, specifically that of copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn) on four sediment cores samples of KongKong Laut Masai Johor. The aqua regia method had been used to analyze Cu, Cr, Cd, Fe and Zn concentrations in sediment samples. Metal concentrations had then been determined through the use of flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The degree of metal contamination in sediment core samples had been determined through using Enrichment Factors (EF) and Geoaccumulation Indices (Igeo). From this study, the mean and standard deviation of metal concentrations in each sediment core sample were shown to be lower than the average shale concentration and lower than both the effects-range low (ERL) and effects-range median (ERM) parameters for aquatic toxicity. This information could be useful, serving as a baseline for evaluating the potential impacts of future development in the area.
Clay soil has always been associated with low shear strength and high compression behavior due to the high content of organic matter. The limited amounts of clay available onsite and acid mine drainage (AMD) problems have necessitated the continuous search for the treatment technology potentials. Mining soils, obtained from Selinsing Gold Mine in Raub, Pahang were evaluated to determine their suitability for use as mining soil and steel slag mixtures as compacted retention pond liners for AMD treatment. The studied samples were subjected to classification, compaction, permeability and strength tests. The results indicated that the index properties of the samples met the minimum requirements for use as liners. The compaction test showed that the maximum dry density (MDD) and optimum moisture content (OMC) decreased and increased, respectively, for all studied samples. At OMC, hydraulic conductivities of the compacted soil-steel slag were in the order of ≤ 10-9 m/s. The results from unconfined compression strength (UCS) tests gave values of 204 kN/m2 and 61° for soil cohesion and soil internal friction angle, respectively. Furthermore, the influence of steel slag treatment on strength properties has generally shown an improvement of up to 15% steel slag which gives the acceptable results of stress-strain in respect of its usability as liner material.