The main goal of this project is to provide a science-based approach for screening legacy mine land (LML) sites for remediation and identifying watersheds where relatively low-cost restoration efforts may yield substantial improvements to stream water quality. We are combing analysis of multiple existing regional data coverages with focused field studies to develop a protocol that land managers can use to screen LML sites at multiple scales and efficiently evaluate the potential value of performing limited site remediation.
Science Issue and Relevance
There are tens of thousands of abandoned mines and prospects in the western U.S., many of which have continuing harmful effects on the environment. Currently, prioritization of these LML sites for receiving the limited funds available for remediation is often driven by geopolitical factors, with little or no systematic evaluation of the scientific factors dictating the probability of meeting desired clean-up goals.
Applying an integrated science-based approach in decision-making process about where and how to remediate mine sites may increase chances for remediation success, and help avoid investments in watersheds where such efforts are unlikely to succeed due to high natural background or other factors. The USGS has under-utilized datasets that could be valuable for evaluating LML sites and prioritizing sites for future modest restoration efforts.
Methods to Address Issue
This project includes two tasks representing a two-stage approach for screening LML sites for remediation at different scales.
Task 1: GIS-based screening techniques. The objective of this task is to assemble and interpret databases relevant to past mining and current environmental conditions in a GIS model covering central Colorado. Key databases include: (a) the new USGS USMIN database to identify all mine-related features; (b) USGS NWIS database, USEPA Storet database, and USGS Central Colorado Assessment Project database for stream water chemistry; (c) USGS hydrothermal alteration mapping from hyperspectral ASTER satellite data for the abundance of exposed sulfide minerals. The GIS model will be analyzed to identify "yellow-light" sites where stream metal concentrations only moderately exceed regulatory levels and apparent mining-related sources are few and well defined.
Task 2: Field characterization of candidate sites. The objective of this task is to develop straightforward sampling regimes for application at candidate "yellow-light" sites identified through Task 1 to provide more specific information on stream water chemical conditions and potential metal sources. A reconnaissance level sampling program will be initially applied at a set of candidate sites, followed by a more comprehensive sampling program performed at 1-2 priority sites selected based on the reconnaissance data. Field characterization methods will include stream tracer dilution studies, stream habitat quality evaluation, solids sampling for chemistry, and surface water and groundwater sample for chemistry, multiple isotopic tracers, and age.
Return to Mineral Resources Program | Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center
Below are other science projects we collaborate with.
USMIN Mineral Deposit Database
Processes Controlling Fate and Transport of Metals Associated with Legacy Mining
Below are data releases associated with this project.
Water quality and discharge data from draining mine tunnels near Silverton, Colorado 1993-2015
Digital map of iron sulfate minerals, other mineral groups, and vegetation of the western United States derived from automated analysis of Landsat 8 satellite data
Digital map of iron sulfate minerals, other mineral groups, and vegetation of the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, and Four Corners Region derived from automated analysis of Landsat 8 satellite data
Trace metals in water and biota in and near headwater streams in the Colorado Mineral Belt
Below are publications associated with this project.
Variation in metal concentrations across a large contamination gradient is reflected in stream but not linked riparian food webs
Water-quality change following remediation using structural bulkheads in abandoned draining mines, upper Arkansas River and upper Animas River, Colorado USA
- Overview
The main goal of this project is to provide a science-based approach for screening legacy mine land (LML) sites for remediation and identifying watersheds where relatively low-cost restoration efforts may yield substantial improvements to stream water quality. We are combing analysis of multiple existing regional data coverages with focused field studies to develop a protocol that land managers can use to screen LML sites at multiple scales and efficiently evaluate the potential value of performing limited site remediation.
Draining portal of the abandoned Stewart Mine in McNasser Gulch, Sawatch Range, Colorado. Science Issue and Relevance
There are tens of thousands of abandoned mines and prospects in the western U.S., many of which have continuing harmful effects on the environment. Currently, prioritization of these LML sites for receiving the limited funds available for remediation is often driven by geopolitical factors, with little or no systematic evaluation of the scientific factors dictating the probability of meeting desired clean-up goals.
Applying an integrated science-based approach in decision-making process about where and how to remediate mine sites may increase chances for remediation success, and help avoid investments in watersheds where such efforts are unlikely to succeed due to high natural background or other factors. The USGS has under-utilized datasets that could be valuable for evaluating LML sites and prioritizing sites for future modest restoration efforts.
Methods to Address Issue
This project includes two tasks representing a two-stage approach for screening LML sites for remediation at different scales.
Task 1: GIS-based screening techniques. The objective of this task is to assemble and interpret databases relevant to past mining and current environmental conditions in a GIS model covering central Colorado. Key databases include: (a) the new USGS USMIN database to identify all mine-related features; (b) USGS NWIS database, USEPA Storet database, and USGS Central Colorado Assessment Project database for stream water chemistry; (c) USGS hydrothermal alteration mapping from hyperspectral ASTER satellite data for the abundance of exposed sulfide minerals. The GIS model will be analyzed to identify "yellow-light" sites where stream metal concentrations only moderately exceed regulatory levels and apparent mining-related sources are few and well defined.
Task 2: Field characterization of candidate sites. The objective of this task is to develop straightforward sampling regimes for application at candidate "yellow-light" sites identified through Task 1 to provide more specific information on stream water chemical conditions and potential metal sources. A reconnaissance level sampling program will be initially applied at a set of candidate sites, followed by a more comprehensive sampling program performed at 1-2 priority sites selected based on the reconnaissance data. Field characterization methods will include stream tracer dilution studies, stream habitat quality evaluation, solids sampling for chemistry, and surface water and groundwater sample for chemistry, multiple isotopic tracers, and age.
Collecting water chemistry sample from mine portal discharge in Hall Valley, Front Range, Colorado. Collecting a noble gas sample for groundwater dating from a stream-side shallow well, North Quartz Creek, Sawatch Range, Colorado Return to Mineral Resources Program | Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center
- Science
Below are other science projects we collaborate with.
USMIN Mineral Deposit Database
Our objective is to develop a national-scale, geospatial database that is the authoritative source of the most important mines, mineral deposits, and mineral districts of the United States.Processes Controlling Fate and Transport of Metals Associated with Legacy Mining
The project goal is to investigate best approaches to integrating conceptual, (bio)geochemical, hydrological, and toxicological models to improve prediction of metal mobility and remediation at legacy mine land (LML) sites. - Data
Below are data releases associated with this project.
Water quality and discharge data from draining mine tunnels near Silverton, Colorado 1993-2015
The American Tunnel, the Black Hawk mine, the Gold King mine, the Mogul mine, and the Red and Bonita mine are located in the Cement Creek watershed, tributary to the upper Animas River near Silverton, Colorado. All five sites have tunnels that drain groundwater from abandoned underground mine workings to the surface. This draining water has elevated concentrations of metals and degrades water qualDigital map of iron sulfate minerals, other mineral groups, and vegetation of the western United States derived from automated analysis of Landsat 8 satellite data
Multispectral remote sensing data acquired by Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensor were analyzed using an automated technique to generate surficial mineralogy and vegetation maps of the conterminous western United States. Six spectral indices (e.g. band-ratios), highlighting distinct spectral absorptions, were developed to aid in the identification of mineral groups in exposed rocks, soiDigital map of iron sulfate minerals, other mineral groups, and vegetation of the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, and Four Corners Region derived from automated analysis of Landsat 8 satellite data
Multispectral remote sensing data acquired by the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensor were analyzed using a new, automated technique to generate a map of exposed mineral and vegetation groups in the western San Juan Mountains, Colorado and the Four Corners Region of the United States (Rockwell and others, 2021). Spectral index (e.g. band-ratio) results were combined into displayed minerTrace metals in water and biota in and near headwater streams in the Colorado Mineral Belt
This data release includes sampling location data, field-collected water chemistry data, cation and anion concentration data for water and tissues of submerged aquatic vegetation, aquatic insect larvae, adult aquatic insects and riparian spiders from 35 first- and second-order sub-alpine streams that ranged over several orders of magnitude in metal concentrations but were similar in elevation, geo - Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Variation in metal concentrations across a large contamination gradient is reflected in stream but not linked riparian food webs
Aquatic insects link food web dynamics across freshwater-terrestrial boundaries and subsidize terrestrial consumer populations. Contaminants that accumulate in larval aquatic insects and are retained across metamorphosis can increase dietary exposure for riparian insectivores. To better understand potential exposure of terrestrial insectivores to aquatically-derived trace metals, metal concentratiAuthorsJohanna M. Kraus, Richard Wanty, Travis S. Schmidt, David Walters, Ruth E. WolfWater-quality change following remediation using structural bulkheads in abandoned draining mines, upper Arkansas River and upper Animas River, Colorado USA
Water-quality effects after remediating abandoned draining mine tunnels using structural bulkheads were examined in two study areas in Colorado, USA. A bulkhead was installed in the Dinero mine tunnel in 2009 to improve water quality in Lake Fork Creek, a tributary to the upper Arkansas River. Although bulkhead installation improved pH, and manganese and zinc concentrations and loads at the DineroAuthorsKatherine Walton-Day, Alisa Mast, Robert L. Runkel