A study has been made of the geochemistry of the Ronneburg mine
district as input to the overall management strategy for the rehabilitation
of the mine site. The study drew on the geological data and information
store developed over the 40 years of mineral exploration and mining at
Ronneburg, and on chemical data from the literature which described the
chemical processes of weathering, oxidation, dissolution and precipitation
of minerals. The geochemical processes were divided into three groups
based on their rate of reaction. Fast processes were assumed to proceed
to equilibrium and were modelled using equilibrium chemistry equations;
slow processes were assumed to be proceeding at a quasi-steady state rate
and were modelled using chemical rate equations; very slow processes
were assumed to have no role in describing the geochemistry for
rehabilitation purposes.