High specific activity of radium isotopes in baryte from the Czech part of the Upper Silesian Basin- An example of spontaneous mine water treatment

Abstract

Radium-bearing barytes (radiobarytes) have been known since the beginning of the 20th century. They are mainly found as precipitates of low-temperature hydrothermal solutions. In anthropogenic environments, they frequently occur as crusts on oil industry equipment used for borehole extraction, in leachates from uranium mill tailings, and as a by-product of phosphoric acid manufacturing. Recently, we recognized Ra-rich baryte as a precipitate in the water drainage system of a bituminous coal mine in the Czech part of the Upper Silesian Basin. The precipitate is a relatively pure baryte, with the empirical formula (Ba0.934Sr0.058Ca0.051Mg0.003)(Sigma 1.046)S0.985O4.000. The mean specific activity of Ra-226 was investigated by the two-sample method and it equals 39.62(22) Bq/g, a level that exceeds known natural occurrences. The values for Ra-228 and Ra-224 are 23.39(26) Bq/g and 11.03(25) Bq/g. The radium content in the baryte is 1.071 ng/g. It is clear that the Ra-rich baryte results from the mixing of two different mine waters-brines rich in Ba, Sr, and isotopes Ra-226 and Ra-228 and waters that are affected by sulfide weathering in mine works. When this mixing occurs in surface watercourses, it could present a serious problem due to the half-life of Ra-226, which is 1600 years. If such mixing spontaneously happens in a mine, then the environmental risks will be much lower and will be, to a great, extent eliminated after the closure of the mine.