Blog - Fieldwork by Lina Hällström

Follow our work to study critical raw materials in Swedish groundwater and mine waste. Here we do updates about our field work

202308 - Drinking water and groundwater sampling

Recently returned from nice days in the field with Justyna from the program Civilengineering Natural Resources Engineering. These days we have focused on groundwater sampling in legacy mine waste, drainage outside the mine waste repository and sampling of drinking water in the area. Looking forward to the results.

Since last time, I have also managed to participate in Goldschmidth 2023 in Lyon, and IMWA in Cardiff. Many new ideas and contacts that we will deal with now!

202306 - Drone flight after drought

In June, Sarah Conrad and I went to Yxsjöberg to fly drones in search of groundwater outflow. However, it was very dry after the long warm weather. The streams were dried up and the groundwater levels very low. In general, the water temperature was around 24 degrees in the surface water, which made it easiyto find groundwater just by using a regular thermometer.

202305 - Always nice weather in the field

Sampling of groundwater and surface water is finally happening. Nice sunny days to sample groundwater with potentially elevated levels of critical raw materials in Yxsjöberg. This is starting to feel like my second home now that I've been here back and forth for almost 10 years. We always feel so welcome and everyone is so helpful. Thank you so much for that! This time we also received greetings from fox, badger and beaver.

202304 - Field visit in search for intact groundwater pipes

In the past few days, we have been on a field visit to see how many groundwater pipes remain in two interesting mining areas with historical mining waste. Here we will take samples to analyse critical raw materials in the groundwater. By studying these places, we gain a better understanding of how we will achieve sustainable mine waste and water management in the future.

A great thanks to Justyna from the program "Civilenginnering - Natural Resurces" year 2 who participated in the field trip. The weather was perfect and we found 10 intact groundwater pipes. However, the ground was still frozen. Next month we hope to start sampling!