Net solute load response to the installation of infiltration limiting dry cover systems over acid forming waste piles

[Truncated] Store-and-release (SAR) covers are often installed over sulfidic mine waste to limit the generation and transport of acidic and metalliferous drainage (AMD) by reducing water percolation to these wastes. SAR covers are most effective in semi-arid to arid regions where they are better able to reduce both the net volume and frequency of percolation events, effectively buffering the underlying waste from smaller rainfall events that would have otherwise penetrated to the waste, whilst simultaneously enhancing evapotranspiration of stored pore-water. While water content has been shown to significantly impact the rate of sulfide oxidation in numerous studies, there is currently no established relationship between realised acidity load and water percolation volumes or percolation event frequency. The aim of this project was to investigate whether reducing incident water percolation volume with SAR cover installation reduces net loading, or simply results in a more concentrated deep drainage containing a comparable acidity load transporting from waste, with no net benefit to SAR cover installation.