Gbadago J.K., Faanhof A., Darko E.O., Schandorf C.
Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, PO Box LG 80, Legon, Accra, Ghana; School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana; South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, PO Box 582, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; Centre of Applied Radiation Science and Technology, North-West University (Mafikeng Campus), Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho, South Africa
Gbadago, J.K., Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, PO Box LG 80, Legon, Accra, Ghana, School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana; Faanhof, A., South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, PO Box 582, Pretoria 0001, South Africa, Centre of Applied Radiation Science and Technology, North-West University (Mafikeng Campus), Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho, South Africa; Darko, E.O., Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, PO Box LG 80, Legon, Accra, Ghana, School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana; Schandorf, C., School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana
The possible environmental impacts of naturally occurring radionuclides on workers and a critical community, as a result of milling and processing sulfide ores for gold by a mining company at Bogoso in the western region of Ghana, have been investigated using gamma spectroscopy. Indicative doses for the workers during sulfide ore processing were calculated from the activity concentrations measured at both physical and chemical processing stages. The dose rate, annual effective dose equivalent, radium equivalent activity, external and internal hazard indices, and radioactivity level index for tailings, for the de-silted sediments of run-off from the vicinity of the tailings dam through the critical community, and for the soils of the critical community's basic schools were calculated and found to be lower than their respective permissible limits. The environmental impact of the radionuclides is therefore expected to be low in this mining environment. © 2011 IOP Publishing Ltd.
Activity concentration; Annual effective dose; Chemical processing; Dose rate; Gamma spectrometry; Gamma spectroscopy; Internal hazard index; Mining companies; Mining environments; Naturally occurring; Radioactivity level; Radium equivalent activity; Sulfide ores; Tailings dam; Western region; Anoxic sediments; Chemical industry; Gold ore treatment; Radioisotopes; Radium; Ultraviolet spectroscopy; Environmental impact; gold; radioisotope; sulfide; article; gamma spectrometry; methodology; mining; radiation dose; radiation monitoring; Gold; Mining; Radiation Dosage; Radiation Monitoring; Radioisotopes; Spectrometry, Gamma; Sulfides