Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wilson, S. A. Articles by Southam, G. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Carbon Dioxide Fixation within Mine Wastes of Ultramafic-Hosted Ore Deposits: Examples from the Clinton Creek and Cassiar Chrysotile Deposits, Canada

Siobhan A. Wilson^1,, Gregory M. Dipple², Ian M. Power³, James M. Thom⁴, Robert G. Anderson⁵, Mati Raudsepp⁶, Janet E. Gabites⁷ and Gordon Southam⁸

¹ Mineral Deposit Research Unit, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 Canada
² Mineral Deposit Research Unit, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 Canada, and Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road, Vancouver BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
³ Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
⁴ Mineral Deposit Research Unit, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
⁵ Geological Survey of Canada, 625 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 5J3, Canada
⁶ Mineral Deposit Research Unit, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 Canada
⁷ Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road, Vancouver BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
⁸ Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada

Corresponding author: e-mail, swilson{at}eos.ubc.ca

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is sequestered through the weathering and subsequent mineralization of the chrysotile mine tailings at Clinton Creek, Yukon Territory, and Cassiar, British Columbia, Canada. Accelerated weathering is attributed to a dramatic increase in surface area, which occurs during the milling of ore. We provide a detailed account of the natural process of carbon trapping and storage as it occurs at Clinton Creek and Cassiar, including mineralogy, modes of occurrence, methods of formation for carbonate alteration, light stable isotope geochemistry, and radiocarbon analysis. Powder X-ray diffraction data were used to identify weathering products as the hydrated magnesium carbonate minerals nesquehonite [MgCO₃·3H₂O], dypingite [Mg₅(CO₃)₄ (OH)₂·5H₂O], hydromagnesite [Mg₅(CO₃)₄(OH)₂·4H₂O], and less commonly lansfordite [MgCO₃·5H₂O]. Textural relationships suggest that carbonate precipitates formed in situ after milling and deposition of tailings. Samples of efflorescent nesquehonite are characterized by ¹³C values between 6.52 and 14.36 per mil, ¹⁸O values between 20.93 and 26.62 per mil, and F¹⁴C values (fraction of modern carbon) between 1.072 and 1.114, values which are consistent with temperature-dependent fractionation of modern atmospheric CO₂ during mineralization. Samples of dypingite ± hydromagnesite collected from within 0.2 m of the tailings surface give ¹³C values between –1.51 and +10.02 per mil, ¹⁸O values between +17.53 and +28.40 per mil, and F¹⁴C values between 1.026 and 1.146, which suggests precipitation from modern atmospheric CO₂ in a soil-like environment. Field observations and isotopic data suggest that hydrated magnesium carbonate minerals formed in two environments. Nesquehonite formed in an evaporative environment on the surface of tailings piles, and dypingite and hydromagnesite formed in the subsurface environment with characteristics similar to soil carbonate. In both cases, these minerals have been trapping and storing the greenhouse gas, CO₂, directly from the atmosphere. Combined use of ¹³C, ¹⁸O, and F¹⁴C data has been applied effectively as a tool for verifying and monitoring sequestration of atmospheric CO₂ within mine tailings. A number of other deposit types produce tailings suitable for CO₂ sequestration, including Cu-Ni-PGE deposits, diamondiferous kimberlite pipes, and podiform chromite deposits. Our results suggest that conversion of about 10 wt percent of tailings to carbonate minerals could offset the greenhouse gas emissions from many ultramafic-hosted mining operations.