Tui mine

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The Tui mine is an abandoned mine on the western slopes of Mount Te Aroha and is considered to be one of the most contaminated sites in New Zealand.

[edit] History

The mine extracted copper, lead and zinc sulphides [1]. It was abandoned in 1973 with waste, rock ore dumps and mine tailings left behind. The tailings have significant amounts of zinc and cadmium.

[edit] Environmental issues

The Tui mine is the site of an unstable tailings dam that is leaching various minerals, including heavy metals, into neighbouring waterways which is affecting the stream ecology. In 2007 the government announced that $9.88 million will be made available to clean up the site with the work scheduled to be completed by 2010.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Geology Dept, Otago University retrieved 23/02/2008
  2. ^ Benson-Pope, David (2007-05-30). Abandoned Tui mine to be cleaned up. New Zealand Government. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
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