| Summary: | The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the sampling points for measuring airborne dust deposition in the Aitik copper mine - the largest, most effective opencast copper mining in Europe - are well located regarding efficiency to collect monitoring data. Issues that were addressed, among others, include background levels, weather impacts and possible external influence. The study was carried out by analyzing monitoring data covering a seven-year period (2010–2016). Dust-and copper levels, precipitation patterns, wind direction and wind speed were the parameters analyzed. A further look into the sampling points and their actual location in terrain was also made. The result of the study indicates, according to different aspects, on decreasing dust fall levels even though the production has increased. For instance, many of the 19 sampling points shows to have lower dust and copper levels according to a comparison of measurement data from 2010 to 2016. A correlation test showed that precipitation and wind does not have a strong connection to dust levels. On the other hand, wind speed showed to have a strong impact on dust fall levels under periods when the highest dust amounts were measured. Many of the sampling points also showed to have a strong connection to each other. The study concludes that a better dust control programme can be obtained if sampling points are reorganized along with a better method for calculating the dispersion of airborne dust.
|
|---|