Stephie Tay

Project description

The Alexander Mine is located 45 km southwest of Reefton and was mined for gold from 1924-1943. In the latter parts of gold extraction, mine tailings were dumped on the banks of the Alexander River just south of the processing plant. This project will examine the geochemistry of the historic Alexander Mine tailings, establish the risk posed to humans, and inform DOC on whether it requires remediation. I will try to quantify the amount of arsenic and other metals in the tailings and analyse plant material to see if the tailings are having an impact on plant chemistry.