| Summary: | The efficiency of soil cover as a method of remediation of sulphide-rich tailings has been studied at an impoundment at the Kristineberg mine, Northern Sweden. Two variations of soil cover were used in the remediation. The major part of the impoundment was covered with a 1.0 m layer of till where the groundwater table was shallow. In combination with the removal of the water dividing ditches surrounding the impoundment, saturation of the tailings as well as the till cover was achieved. In areas with a deeper groundwater it was not possible to saturate the tailings by means of this method. Instead, a sealing layer consisting of a 0.3 m compacted clayey till, acting as an oxygen diffusion barrier, situated underneath a 1.5 m protective cover was used. Field studies at the impoundment cover pore-water extraction and solid-sample collection at five locations. Solid tailings were subject to sequential extractions in the laboratory. Open groundwater pipes for measuring groundwater levels as well as BAT® groundwater pipes for geochemical sampling of the groundwater were installed over the entire impoundment. At a location in the area with the sealing layer, tension lysimeters were installed in a profile in the vadose zone down to the unoxidised tailings. Nearby, one oxygen diffusion lysimeter and one water infiltration lysimeter were installed below 1.5, 1.0, and 0.3 m of protective till cover, respectively. The sealing layer has been investigated in the laboratory with respect to its susceptibility to the effects of freezing and thawing. The solid samples from the tailings revealed that in some areas, the sulphide oxidation prior to the remediation had been intense. In other areas, with a shallower pre-remediation groundwater table, the oxidation seemed to have ceased upon reaching it. In the area with water- saturated tailings increased pore water concentrations around and below the oxidation zone were visible, due to release of secondarily retained elements. Elements with peaks at this level were As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, ...
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