In this work an electrokinetic remediation cell for copper mine tailings using sinusoidal electric field was analyzed. The sinusoidal electric field was obtained by applying simultaneously continuous-alternating voltages; in this work an alternating voltage of high frequency was applied. The system was tested considering the effect of: (1) the effective voltage applied to the cell and (2) the polarity reversal of the cell. According to the conditions studied in this investigation, the laboratory results showed that a high frequency sinusoidal electric field improves the EKR process, and increasing the effective voltage improves the remediation action, especially when a polarity inversion is present, which reduces polarization during the process. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.