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Spanish researchers have developed techniques for applying tomography and ground-penetrating radar to study pollution in metal mines, which they say are low-cost, fast, non-destructive and very accurate.
The work was directed by the geology professor Tomás Martín Crespo from the Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC), Madrid.
The south of Spain alone has over 80 metal mines, some of which are still being exploited, while others are disused. Abandoned storage ponds represent an environmental threat, being a source of acid water and heavy metals. It is crucial that all the storage ponds are evaluated and characterised prior to restoration work.
The researchers at the URJC focused on two particular mining areas, Monte Romero and Río Tinto, both in the Spanish province of Huelva, where the new geophysical techniques provided excellent results. The electrical resistivity tomography worked particularly well, not only in determining the precise geometry of the storage pool but also in differentiating the different layers of deposits and the flows of groundwater inside the pools.
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