ELKO — New research shows that mercury emissions from mining disturbances make up nearly 20 percent of the mercury emissions from a mine site, and the remaining 80 percent of emissions come from processing ore at mills.

The two-year study found that most fugitive air emissions came from leach pads and tailings ponds but can vary greatly depending upon the mining operation, the natural mercury in the ground, the moisture content of tailings and whether a cyanide solution is actively leaching an ore heap.
Read the complete story at the Elko Daily’s Mining Quarterly.