Distribution of rare alkaline elements in water mining objects of the Eastern Transbaikalia

The article presents the results of a study of the distribution of lithium, rubidium, and cesium in technogenic waters of tungsten deposits - Bukukinsky, Spokoininsky, Bom-Gorkhonsky, molybdenum deposits - Shakhtaminsky, Bugdainsky and lead-zinc deposits -Blagodatsky, Akatuevsky. Hydrogeochemical testing of the deposits areas in the period from 2013 to 2015 was carried out, 46 water samples were taken. Chemical and analytical studies of waters by common methods at the Institute of Natural Resources, Ecology and Cryology SB RAS (Chita) were carried out. The main cations and metals by the atomic adsorption method on a SOLAAR M6 spectro-photometer were determined. Additionally, analyzes of waters by the ICP-MS method at the Institute of Geochemistry SB RAS (Irkutsk) on a high-resolution device ELEMENT 2 were carried out. Acid sulfate waters with increased salinity and abnormally high concentrations of metals, especially Cd, Zn, Th, Mn and Al, are common in areas of the Bukukinsky, Bom-Gorkhonsky and Bugdainsky deposits. Weakly alkaline and alkaline waters of a hydrocar-bonate anionic composition with high contents of W, Mo, U and As are prevalent in the regions of the Spokoininsky and Shakhtaminsky deposits. Neutral and slightly alkaline, bicarbonate, sulfate-bicarbonate and bicarbonate-sulfate magnesium-calcium drainage waters are common in areas of the lead-zinc deposits. They are characterized by high content of As, Zn, Cd, Pb, and Mn. The ability of lithium, rubidium and cesium to concentrate in technogenic waters of deposits has been established. Mobility series of rare alkaline elements in waters, as a rule, has the form Li>Rb>Cs, which is explained by a weak migration of rubidium and cesium in natural waters. Rubidium and cesium have a higher sorption rate compared to lithium, while lithium can be accumulated in solution. An exception is the waters of the Shakhtaminsky deposit, which is characterized by a sequence in the series of mobility of alkaline elements Rb>Li>Cs, which is explained by the wide manifestation of potassium feldspathic in the Shakhtaminsky ore field. An increase in the content of rare elements in waters was fixed together with increasing salinity and acidity of solutions, most pronounced in the areas of sulfide deposits - Bukukin-sky, Bom-Gorkhonsky and Bugdainsky, where maximum concentrations of elements reached values (p.g/L): Li - 589.0-1062; Rb -45.0-74.9; Cs - 3.67-49.0. At the same time, the calculation of the relative contents of rare alkaline elements (% to mineralization) showed noticeable differences in the degree of their accumulation in waters as salinity increases. So, if lithium is characterized by a constant increase in relative concentrations, then for rubidium, on the contrary, a decrease. A noticeable increase in the relative cesium content in the waters occurs with an increase in mineralization to about 1 g/L, after which they begin to decrease.

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