Uranium and other contaminant migration in groundwater at a tropical Australian Uranium Mine

Hydrogeochemical modelling (utilising the modelling tools MODFLOW, MT3D and HARPHRQ) has been used in conjunction with laboratory-based experiments and a field monitoring program to investigate the fate of uranium and other contaminants in excess water sprayed on a 33 ha region of the Ranger Uranium Mine (RUM), northern Australia. The results indicate that uranium is retained in the surficial layer of the lateritic soils of the area. Conservative contaminants are not retained by the soils and are transported into the groundwater. Subsequently, they migrate relative to the groundwater flow rate towards the river system down hydraulic gradient of the irrigation area.