Dear Eos:
Hello from Bucknell University and the nearby anthracite coal mining region of central Pennsylvania!
I studied mine drainage and treatment for most of my career. Mine drainage (often but not always acidic) begins with the oxidation of pyrite found with coal deposits, resulting in damage to ecosystems. Stream bottoms get coated with “yellow boy,” an informal mining term for the bright orange iron hydroxide solids that precipitate.
Many years ago I wondered whether these iron hydroxides could be collected from treatment systems and used as a resource. The main picture, taken in 2000, shows my 1982 VW Vanagon painted with a painstakingly mixed combination of yellow boy and clear coat. The resulting gorgeous finish varied in hue with the ambient light. The top inset photo shows the yellow boy decal from the side of the van depicting two of the reactions responsible for mine drainage.
The bottom inset picture shows Bernardo Castro-Tejada, a Bucknell exchange student from Spain, and “Harriet the Geochemistry Field Dog” (RIP) walking away from the actual discharge that was the source of the pigment for the van.
—Carl Kirby, Geology and Environmental Sciences, Emeritus, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa.