CHARACTERIZATION OF HAUL ROAD DUST IN AN INDIAN OPENCAST IRON-ORE MINE

Vehicular traffic on unpaved haul roads of the opencast mines has been identified as the most prolific source of fugitive dust. An intensive study was carried out in Noamundi Iron ore mines of Tata Iron and Ste el Co. in January-February 1994 to characterize the airborne aerosol m ainly contributed from unpaved haul road, traffic exhaust and re-entra ined dust from the other activities of the mine. Percentage of suspend ed particulate matter at the various size ranges and free silica conte nt of each of the size ranges of haul road dust were determined. Conce ntrations of eight trace elements, namely, zinc, copper, lead, mangane se, cobalt, nickel, cadmium and iron were determined and found to be v arying in the range 13.92-16.34, 0.06-0.09, 0.71-0.79, 0.14-0.15, 0.08 -0.11, 0.15-0.17, 0.003-0.004 and 390-401.20 mu g m(-3), respectively. A study on enrichment factor and varimax rotated factor analysis indi cates the four major sources namely soil/road dust, vehicle exhaust, m etallic corrosion and, galvanized material, tire wear and zinc compoun d in rubber material which appear to contribute trace elements to airb orne aerosol. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.