Mercury Contamination and

Bioaccumulation from Historical Gold

Mining in the Sierra Nevada Site
Characterization and Remediation

Charles N. Alpers, Ph.D.

U.S. Geological Survey

California Water Science Center
Placer Hall
6000 J Street
Sacramento, CA
 Cooperating Agencies
Federal

State

Local

Hydraulic mining, Placer County, CA

 Outline of Presentation
Background
Review of mining history and mercury use in gold mining
Environmental geochemistry of mercury in the Bear,
Yuba, and American River watersheds, California
Water Quality
Sediment
Biota
Importance of seasonality in Hg cycle
Remediation of 3 Hg-contaminated
placer mine sites
What have we learned?
What information gaps remain?
Casci Creek, Nevada Co., CA
 HISTORICAL
MINING:
box
Gold & Mercury
More than 100,000,000 kg
mercury (Hg) produced from
239 mines in California

Approx. 33,000,000 kg Hg
lost to atmosphere from
furnaces at Hg mines

Approx. 12,000,000 kg Hg
used in Calif. gold mining

USGS Fact Sheet 2005-3014 (Churchill, 2000)

 GOLD MINING AND
MERCURY USE IN THE
NORTHERN SIERRA
NEVADA
Highest intensity of hydraulic
mining (placer gravel deposits)
in Bear-Yuba watersheds
Approx. 5,000,000 kg of
mercury lost during gold
processing in Sierra Nevada
(USGS, 2000; Churchill, 2000)
Significant gold dredging in all
rivers draining Sierra Nevada

USGS Fact Sheet 2005-3014

 Hydraulic mining,
Malakoff Diggins,
Nevada County, CA,
circa 1880

Hydraulic mine,
ground sluice system,
Scott Valley mine,
Siskiyou County, CA
circa 1870s
 Sluice Tunnels
Photos: Rick Humphreys, SWRCB
Sluices recovered
gold.
Mercury was used to
amalgamate fine gold.
Mercury was lost
during sluicing.
Mercury is still found
in sluices and their
foundations today.
 SLUICE BOX Sluice and undercurrent,
Oro Fino mine,
UNDERCURRENT
Siskiyou County, CA
Circa 1855

Sluiceundercurrent
system,
Spring Valley mine,
Butte County, CA,
Feather River
watershed
 Hg beads
in sediment

Photo by R. Humphreys

South Fork American River, Lotus Camp (near Coloma)

Mercury Loss to the Environment
in Hydraulic Mining

USGS Fact Sheet 2005-3014

Cleaning amalgam from stamp mill, Empire Mine,
Nevada County, California, 1900
Abandoned bucket-line dredge, Yuba Goldfields, CA
 TRANSPORT AND
TRANSFORMATION
OF MERCURY

ENVIRONMENTS:
Hydraulic and hardrock gold
mines Sierra Nevada
Mercury mines Coast
Ranges
Mountain streams above
reservoirs
Foothill reservoirs
Rivers below reservoirs
gold dredging environments
Floodplain deposits
San Francisco Bay-Delta
estuary

USGS Fact Sheet 2005-3014

The Mercury Cycle in Aquatic Systems

Hg0 Hg(II) Hg0

atmospheric
transport Particles
AIR
Runoff phytoplankton HgCl42-
Hg(II) zooplankton HgCl2
CH3Hg+ light light
CH3 Hg+microbes Hg(II) Hg0
Hg0

WATER Particles DOM

microbes microbes
SEDIMENT CH3 Hg+ Hg(II) abiotic rxn.Hg0
SRB, FeRB
Graphic: Mark Marvin-DiPasquale (USGS)
SAMPLING SITES, BEAR-YUBA, 1999
Source: May et al. (2000)
USGS OFR 00-367
 Food Web Study, Camp Far West Reservoir, CA

(15N) MeHg
slope similar
other studies

similar rate of
biomagnification
of MeHg with
increasing
trophic level.

Stewart et al. (2008) CJFAS

Data from:
Alpers et al. (2008) Camp Far West
USGS SIR 2006-5008 Reservoir, CA
Data from:
Alpers et al. (2008) Camp Far West
USGS SIR 2006-5008 Reservoir, CA
 Camp Far West
Stewart et al. (2008) CJFAS Reservoir, CA
Principal Findings Seasonal Cycles
in Camp Far West Reservoir

Fall-Winter phytoplankton bloom is triggered by

phosphorus in inflowing water
Spring is the key season for zooplankton growth
and MeHg bioaccumulation
Mass load of MeHg inflow exceeds in-reservoir
production (benthic flux and hypolimnion)
MeHg bioaccumulation in upper trophic levels
(fish, invertebrates) dependent on MeHg uptake in
plankton, which have strong seasonal cycles
 DW = Drinking water std.
AL = Aquatic life std. (CTR)
DW
DW
AL

Source: Alpers et al. (2005) USGS SIR 2004-5251

AL DW
 Total mercury in sediment
Boston Mine

Source: Alpers et al. (2005) USGS SIR 2004-5251

 Remediation of mercury-
contaminated placer gold mines
2000: Polar Star Tunnel, Dutch Flat Mining
District (USEPA), $1.4M, 150 m tunnel (~$9K/m)

2003: Sailor Flat Tunnel, Tom and Jerry Mining

District (USFS), $300K, 130 m tunnel (~$2K/m)

2006: Boston Mine Tunnel, Red Dog Mining

District (BLM), $250K, 60 m tunnel (~$4K/m)
 Clean-up Scenes Polar Star Tunnel

Photos: R. Humphreys, SWRCB

Stabilizing the entrance Mercury vapor monitoring

Washing the floor Finished product

Clean-up Scenes Sailor Flat

Tunnel before excavation

Tunnel and pit areas restored

Tunnel during excavation Photos: R. Humpheys, SWRCB
 Clean-up Scenes Boston Mine

Photos: R. Humphreys, SWRCB

Trommel and
concentrator bowl
Tunnel outlet During remediation

Spiral concentrator
Slusher Panning mercury
 What have we learned?
Mercury hot spots occur in Sierra Nevada
Tunnels and ground sluices at hydraulic mines
Stamp mill sites (and downstream) at lode mines
From limited post-remediation monitoring:
At Polar Star and Boston mine tunnels, persistent
contamination from upstream sources
Difficult to demonstrate benefits of remediation
Bioaccumulation depends on seasonal
dynamics involving food web
Critical to sample seasonally for water and biota
 What information gaps remain?
Baseline data on Hg and MeHg loads in mining-affected watersheds
Quantify potential benefits from mine remediation
Seasonal variability
Information needed for TMDLs
Data on Hg and MeHg in reservoir sediments
Dam removal issues
Potential sites for Hg removal, sand-gravel-gold extraction
Studies of Hg methylation and bioaccumulation
Controls on what makes reactive Hg(II) available to microbes
Controls on microbial methylation: S, C, Fe, nutrients
Food web studies
Effects of wetland restoration, wet/dry cycles
Effects of agricultural amendments (esp. S on rice and other crops)
Wildlife health effects
Effects of MeHg exposure on salmon and steelhead
Very little information on mammals, reptiles, many bird species
Modeling of mercury cycling in rivers and reservoirs
Improved understanding of biogeochemical and hydrologic processes
Management tools for testing scenarios, confirming results