Spectral Induced Polarization Studies of Mine Waste Piles in Colorado and New Mexico

We examined the sensitivity of the electrochemical spectral induced polarization (SIP) model developed by Wong to the oxidation extent of pyrite and pyrrhotite minerals disseminated in silica sand. The sensitivity of this model to the oxidation of sulfide minerals was mainly related to the model parameters defining the ratio of the active to the inactive passive ions [Formula: see text] dissolved in the pore water, and the variation of the current reaction parameters [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. The increase in these parameters as well as in the associated exchange current densities, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] was consistent with an increase in the activation of the charge transfer at the metal-electrolyte interface, resulting in the decrease in polarization of such an interface, which was reflected by a decrease in the SIP phase response as previously argued by Wong. Under this premise, the model described fairly well measurements below 500 Hz from a laboratory experiment, being consistent with the depletion of the SIP phase response associated with the oxidation degree promoted on the disseminate sulfides analyzed here. This suggested that electrochemical modeling of SIP measurements can provide information to assess the oxidation state of sulfides and also to infer the formation of passivating layers coating the metal minerals during oxidation-dissolution processes. Our results suggested a possible alternative for the monitoring of mine waste deposits producing acid mine drainage and the stability of sequestered harmful metals during remedial treatments by means of the SIP method.

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Spectral induced polarization measurements of the Carlisle mine dump, New Mexico

Open-File Report ◽

10.3133/ofr01363 ◽

2001 ◽

Author(s):

David L. Campbell ◽

Shay Beanland

Keyword(s):

New Mexico ◽

Induced Polarization ◽

Polarization Measurements ◽

Spectral Induced Polarization ◽

Mine Dump

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Spectral Induced Polarization Studies Of Mine Dumps Near Silverton, Colorado

10.3997/2214-4609-pdb.203.1998_079 ◽

1998 ◽

Author(s):

David L. Campbell ◽

David V. Fitterman ◽

Andrew S. Hein ◽

Daniel P. Jones

Keyword(s):

Induced Polarization ◽

Mine Dumps ◽

Spectral Induced Polarization ◽

Polarization Studies

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Spectral induced polarization studies of a Ni-Cu ore deposit

56th EAEG Meeting ◽

10.3997/2214-4609.201409780 ◽

1994 ◽

Author(s):

H. Soininen ◽

H. Vanhala

Keyword(s):

Induced Polarization ◽

Ore Deposit ◽

Spectral Induced Polarization ◽

Polarization Studies

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Spectral Induced Polarization Survey with Distributed Array System for Mineral Exploration: Case Study in Saudi Arabia

Minerals ◽

10.3390/min10090769 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (9) ◽

pp. 769 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Fouzan A. Alfouzan ◽

Abdulrahman M. Alotaibi ◽

Leif H. Cox ◽

Michael S. Zhdanov

Keyword(s):

Effective Medium Theory ◽

Coupling Effect ◽

Pilot Project ◽

Drill Hole ◽

Induced Polarization ◽

Effective Medium ◽

Inductive Coupling ◽

Geothermal Resources ◽

Spectral Induced Polarization ◽

Distributed Array

The Saudi Arabian Glass Earth Pilot Project is a geophysical exploration program to explore the upper crust of the Kingdom for minerals, groundwater, and geothermal resources as well as strictly academic investigations. The project began with over 8000 km2 of green-field area. Airborne geophysics including electromagnetic (EM), magnetics, and gravity were used to develop several high priority targets for ground follow-up. Based on the results of airborne survey, a spectral induced polarization (SIP) survey was completed over one of the prospective targets. The field data were collected with a distributed array system, which has the potential for strong inductive coupling. This was examined in a synthetic study, and it was determined that with the geometries and conductivities in the field survey, the inductive coupling effect may be visible in the data. In this study, we also confirmed that time domain is vastly superior to frequency domain for avoiding inductive coupling, that measuring decays from 50 ms to 2 s allow discrimination of time constants from 1 ms to 5 s, and the relaxation parameter C is strongly coupled to intrinsic chargeability. We developed a method to fully include all 3D EM effects in the inversion of induced polarization (IP) data. The field SIP data were inverted using the generalized effective-medium theory of induced polarization (GEMTIP) in conjunction with an integral equation-based modeling and inversion methods. These methods can replicate all inductive coupling and EM effects, which removes one significant barrier to inversion of large bandwidth spectral IP data. The results of this inversion were interpreted and compared with results of drill hole set up in the survey area. The drill hole intersected significant mineralization which is currently being further investigated. The project can be considered a technical success, validating the methods and effective-medium inversion technique used for the project.

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