In the process of gold mining, large amounts of broken waste rocks are produced and left at the surface under atmospheric conditions, which may generate acid mine drainage (AMD). This study aimed to predict the AMD generation potential and determine the concentrations of potentially toxic metals at three dump sites for a gold mine in Thailand. The AMD generation potentials of waste rock samples collected from the oxide, transition and sulfide dump sites was determined using the weathering cell test. The kinetic test had a 7-d cycle and was run for ~ 21 cycles; the effluent pH, conductivity, redox potential and levels of sulfate, and major and trace metals (i.e., As, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn) present in each cycle were measured. Some samples generated significant amounts of AMD, especially the massive sulfide samples from the transition and sulfide dump sites. The effluent water pH in the oxide and sulfide dump sites was neutral to slightly alkaline (pH ~ 6–9), while it was acidic to neutral (pH ~ 3–7) in the transition dump site. The transition dump site samples generated significantly higher acidity and sulfate levels than those from the oxide and sulfide dump sites. Furthermore, some waste rock samples, including the massive sulfide from the transition dump site, released relatively high amounts of heavy metals; in addition, sulfate reached levels (9.48 mg kg⁻¹ of waste rock) high enough to pose a risk to ecosystems. The long-term acid generation suggested that some waste rock samples from sulfide dump site and transition dump site will continue to generate acid for long periods. Based on data from the weathering cell test and multivariate statistical analysis, the transition dump site potentially generates a lower pH leachate than other waste rock dumps.

在黄金开采过程中，会产生大量破碎的废石并在大气条件下留在地表，这可能会产生酸性矿山排水（AMD）。本研究旨在预测 AMD 的产生潜力并确定泰国金矿三个倾倒场的潜在有毒金属浓度。使用风化池测试确定了从氧化物、过渡和硫化物倾倒场收集的废石样品的 AMD 生成潜力。动力学测试有一个 7 天的循环，运行了约 21 个循环；测量了每个循环中存在的流出物 pH 值、电导率、氧化还原电位和硫酸盐水平以及主要和微量金属（即 As、Co、Cu、Fe、Mn、Pb 和 Zn）。一些样品产生了大量的 AMD，尤其是来自过渡和硫化物倾倒场的大量硫化物样品。氧化物和硫化物堆场的出水 pH 值为中性至微碱性（pH ~ 6-9），而过渡堆场则为酸性至中性（pH ~ 3-7）。过渡堆场样品产生的酸度和硫酸盐水平明显高于氧化物和硫化物堆场的样品。此外，一些废石样品，包括来自过渡倾倒场的块状硫化物，释放的重金属含量较高；此外，硫酸盐达到水平（9.48 mg kg 过渡堆场样品产生的酸度和硫酸盐水平明显高于氧化物和硫化物堆场的样品。此外，一些废石样品，包括来自过渡倾倒场的块状硫化物，释放的重金属含量较高；此外，硫酸盐达到水平（9.48 mg kg 过渡堆场样品产生的酸度和硫酸盐水平明显高于氧化物和硫化物堆场的样品。此外，一些废石样品，包括来自过渡倾倒场的块状硫化物，释放的重金属含量较高；此外，硫酸盐达到水平（9.48 mg kg^-1废石）高到足以对生态系统构成风险。长期产酸表明硫化物倾倒场和过渡倾倒场的部分废石样品将继续长期产酸。根据风化单元测试和多变量统计分析的数据，过渡垃圾场可能会产生比其他废石垃圾场低 pH 值的渗滤液。