Acid mine drainage phenomena in Pahang

Several active and abandoned mines in Pahang have been visited very recently.  It was part of the fieldtrip to supervise my research student who is currently investigating this phenomena.  The main objectives of the study are (i) to make a good prediction of AMD based on the lithology of the site; (ii) to prevent this from happening in the future by using natural materials such as zeolite, limestone, zero valent iron and modified clay.

 

Figure 1.  4WD is required for this fieldtrip to tackle rough terrain to the study site

 

Figure 2.  This small stream is affected by the AMD phenomena from active iron mine located upstream of this stream.

Figure 3.  The reading of pH value measured using portable pH meter indicating acidic pH of the water in this stream (pH = 3.17).