STABLE ISOTOPE MASS BALANCE OF LAKES AND MINE TAILINGS PONDS IN THE PERMAFROST REGION OF CANADA

摘要

Hydrological research under way at gold and base metal mines in the Northwest Territories, Canada, has focused on development, validation and application of isotope mass balance methods for estimation of lake evaporation. A better understanding of seasonal and annual variability in evaporation rates is required at the sites for prediction of post-operational storage changes in mine tailings ponds, reservoirs used to store and treat mill effluents which commonly contain concentrated heavy metals and/or cyanide compounds. Investigations have addressed basic concerns regarding the use of isotopic techniques raised in previous studies [1], namely: accuracy of the method relative to conventional micrometeorological approaches and establishment of a water sampling protocol for operational water balance monitoring.