Hardrock Mining in Southwest Alluvial Basins -- Pinal Creek, Arizona

USGS scientists conducting field work at a well site with a view of a large tailings pile in the background

Project Homepage

Project Bibliography

Southwest alluvial basins are characterized by arid climates. Source mechanisms to streams are predominantly controlled by ground-water flow paths in buried alluvial valleys. Research on hardrock mining contamination in Southwest Alluvial Basins has been focused in the Pinal Creek Basin, Arizona. In Pinal Creek, dissolved metals are moving in an acidic plume through a shallow aquifer downstream from a copper mining area. Chemical reactions that change the form and nature of metals in the ground-water plume are being studied. Movement of metals from ground water into the stream and chemical reactions in the stream also are being studied. The investigation has used field and laboratory techniques and geochemical modeling to identify hydrologic processes in the plume and the creek that determine the effectiveness of remediation efforts.

Related Headlines

• Tracer Tests Steer Cleanup of Mined Watersheds
• Cleaning up Contamination in Hard Rock Mine Lands

More Information

• Pinal Creek Toxics Site Home Page -- The Pinal Creek home page contains additional information about the Pinal Creek Toxics Site.
• Project Bibliography
• Abstracts from Selected Meetings/Conferences

Project Remediation Related Activities

• Acidic Plume Remediation Monitoring

Other Acid Mine Drainage Remediation Related Activates

• Abandoned Mine Lands Initiative
• Lake Coeur d'Alene Remediation Assessment
• Remediating Some of the World's Most Acidic Waters at the Iron Mountain Superfund Site--A Tough Challenge for Scientists
• Summitville Mine and its Downstream Effects
• Evaluating How Downstream Tailings Deposits Impact the Effectiveness of Remediation Plans

Other Information on Acid Mine Drainage and Abandoned Mine Lands

• Upper Arkansas River Basin Toxics Site
• Whitewood Creek Toxics Site
• Fact Sheet on the Use of Tracer Injections to Measure
  Metal Loading from Acid Mine Drainage in Streams
• USGS Abandoned Mine Lands Initiative
• USGS Mine Drainage Activities
• USGS Activities at the Summitville Mine, Colorado
• USGS Mineral Resource Surveys Program

Back to Watershed Contamination from Hard-Rock Mining Research Projects

Back to Watershed- and Regional-Scale Contamination Research Projects