Acid drainage technology initiative metal mining sector. (ehpnet).

The Acid Drainage Technology Initiative (ADTI) was begun in 1995 by the National Mining Association, the Interstate Mining Compact Commission, and federal agencies including the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to address AMD in the United States. Its work is performed in two sectors, coal mining and metal mining. The ADTI's Metal Mining Sector (MMS) has developed a website, located at http://www.unr.edu/mines/adti/index.html, to disseminate the information gathered through its programs.

The main focuses of the ADTI-MMS are technology development and technology transfer issues in the environmental management of metal mines. The initiative is charged with finding ways to reduce the extent and severity of AMD and its effects, developing consensus on environmental mine waste management technologies, identifying technological needs, and using sound scientific and technological bases to interpret, assess, and summarize published literature and operational practices.

The initial goal of the ADTI-MMS is to develop a series of workbooks for mine managers and planners, consultants, regulators, and others that compile and-analyze existing technical information on environmental mine waste management. The workbooks, which should be completed and available on the website in the near future, will cover sampling, monitoring, prediction, mitigation, and modeling.

The Projects page provides overviews of other work that the ADTI-MMS is conducting or planning. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is collaborating with the ADTI-MMS to develop a database of metal mining remediation technologies. The ADTI-MMS is also in the process of generating funds for several proposed data compilation projects. One would identify existing data on the effectiveness of mine waste drainage quality prediction and remediation techniques that have been implemented so far. Another would identify literature and sources of information to support a model of metals loading from mining areas to streams and reservoirs, as well as areas of metal deposition. Still another would adapt a coal mining passive treatment flow chart devised by the Bureau of Mines for use in metal mining. The flow chart system as envisioned would allow input of such determinants of AMD as mine site weather and chemical conditions.

A links page including the websites of such organizations as the Sustainable Minerals Roundtable, the International Network for Acid Prevention, and the Mine Environmental Neutral Drainage Program is also provided.