Application of Airborne Gamma Spectrometry in Radioactive Contamination Investigation of Baiyan Obo Rare Earth Mine

Airborne gamma spectroscopy measurements were carried out at the Bayan Obo deposit in Inner Mongolia with the aim of investigating radioactive contamination around the tailings dam. The measured results show that the main radioactive pollution elements in the rare earth mining area and tailings dam in Inner Mongolia are 232Th. The range of gamma total count higher than 140cps corresponds to the tailings dam in the Bayan Obo area, and the area with high total count rate is the eastern mining area of the Bayan Obo mining area, which is open-pit mining. The radio-nuclear uranium and thorium content plane contour maps show the same pattern. According to the on-site investigation, some anomalies sites on the contour may be related to the pollution of the local rare earth ore deposits on the ground and the surrounding rare earth processing enterprises. The aerial gamma spectrometry is a fast and effective method for environmental Radioactivity monitoring and evaluation.