Investigation of Quantitative Status and Pollution Indices of Some Pollutants in Surface Soils as Affected by Tailings Dam (Case study: Chahar Gonbad copper mine)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Environment Department, Institute of Science and High Technology and Environmental Sciences, GraduateUniversity of Advanced Technology, Kerman, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor of Institute of Science and High Technology and Environmental Sciences, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, Iran

3 Environmental Protection Organization of Kerman Province, Kerman, Iran

Abstract

Mine tailings dams, as one of the important and unavoidable parts of any mine, are considered as a sources of environmental pollution in the areas adjacent to each mine, which has received less attention from an environmental point of view. The present study was conducted to investigate the environmental effects of the tailings dam of Chahar Gonbad copper mine on changes in quantities of some soil pollutants adjacent to the tailings dam of this mine. In this study, according to the location of the region, six samples of sediment from the tailing dam and nine samples of topsoil were collected and the amounts of Pb, Sb, Zn, Cd, As and Cu; as well as soil pollution indices of each element (enrichment factor (EF), Geo-accumulation factor (Igeo), and contamination factor (CF)) were measured and compared with the environmental protection standard. The results of pollutants in sediments showed significant enrichment of Cu and Sb elements in tailings dam sediment samples. Based on the standard values ​​of soil pollution, with the exception of high levels of Cu (38-135 mg kg-1) and As (7.2-17.8 mg kg-1) in some samples, the observed levels of Pb, Zn, Cd and Sb in all soil samples were lower than the environmental protection standards. According to the results of soil pollution indices, the two elements Sb and As had higher EF and Igeo than the other elements, which shows the effect of anthropogenic factors (tailings dam) on amounts of these elements. The results of this study showed, despite the high amounts of Cu in the soil surface samples (due to the nature of the Cu vein deposit in the region), the area adjacent to the dam is not contaminated with other pollutants, although EF of As (4-15.3) and Sb (3-5.9) can be a serious alarm to pollute the area with these elements in the coming years. Based on the obtained results, it is suggested that changes in the pollution of tailings dams as one of the sources of environmental pollution in the areas adjacent to the mines, be continuously assessed and appropriate management measures be applied.

Keywords

References

Azeez, J. O., Mesele, S. A., Sarumi, B. O., Ogundele, J. A., Uponi, A. O., & Hassan, A. O. (2014). Soil metal pollution as a function of traffic density and distance from road in emerging cities: a case study of Abeokuta, southwestern Nigeria. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science, 60(2), 275-295.
Bhuiyan, M. A., Parvez, L., Islam, M. A., Dampare, S. B., & Suzuki, S. (2010). Heavy metal pollution of coal mine-affected agricultural soils in the northern part of Bangladesh. Journal of hazardous materials, 173(1-3), 384-392.
Dung, T. T. T., Cappuyns, V., Swennen, R., & Phung, N. K. (2013). From geochemical background determination to pollution assessment of heavy metals in sediments and soils. Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology, 12(4), 335-353.
El Khalil, H., El Hamiani, O., Bitton, G., Ouazzani, N., & Boularbah, A. (2008). Heavy metal contamination from mining sites in South Morocco: monitoring metal content and toxicity of soil runoff and groundwater. Environmental monitoring and assessment, 136(1-3), 147-160.
Esmaeili, K., & Moore, F. (2013). Investigation of Heavy metals Enrichment in Stream Sediments of Sungun Porphyry Copper Deposit. Iranian Journal of Mining Engineering, 7(17), 33-39.
García-Giménez, R., & Jiménez-Ballesta, R. (2017). Mine tailings influencing soil contamination by potentially toxic elements. Environmental Earth Sciences, 76(1), 51.
Gyamfi, E., Appiah-Adjei, E. K., & Adjei, K. A. (2019). Potential heavy metal pollution of soil and water resources from artisanal mining in Kokoteasua, Ghana. Groundwater for Sustainable Development, 8, 450-456.
Isfahani, F., & Sharifi, A. (1999). Geochemical characteristics of magmatic rocks of Iran. Geological Survey of Iran, 2, 1470.
Jung, M. C. (2001). Heavy metal contamination of soils and waters in and around the Imcheon Au–Ag mine, Korea. Applied geochemistry, 16(11-12), 1369-1375.
Kabir, E., Ray, S., Kim, K. H., Yoon, H. O., Jeon, E. C., Kim, Y. S., ... & Brown, R. J. (2012). Current status of trace metal pollution in soils affected by industrial activities. The Scientific World Journal, 2012.
Kargar, M., Khorasani, N. A., Karami, M., Rafiee, G. H., & Naseh, R. (2012). An investigation on As, Cd, Mo and Cu contents of soils surrounding the Meyduk Tailings Dam.
Kelm, U., Helle, S., Matthies, R., & Morales, A. (2009). Distribution of trace elements in soils surrounding the El Teniente porphyry copper deposit, Chile: the influence of smelter emissions and a tailings deposit. Environmental geology, 57(2), 365-376.
Kossoff, D., Dubbin, W. E., Alfredsson, M., Edwards, S. J., Macklin, M. G., & Hudson-Edwards, K. A. (2014). Mine tailings dams: Characteristics, failure, environmental impacts, and remediation. Applied Geochemistry, 51, 229-245.
Kříbek, B., Majer, V., Pašava, J., Kamona, F., Mapani, B., Keder, J., & Ettler, V. (2014). Contamination of soils with dust fallout from the tailings dam at the Rosh Pinah area, Namibia: Regional assessment, dust dispersion modeling and environmental consequences. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 144, 391-408.
McLennan, S. M., & Taylor, S. R. (1982). Geochemical constraints on the growth of the continental crust. The Journal of Geology, 90(4), 347-361.
Mileusnić, M., Mapani, B. S., Kamona, A. F., Ružičić, S., Mapaure, I., & Chimwamurombe, P. M. (2014). Assessment of agricultural soil contamination by potentially toxic metals dispersed from improperly disposed tailings, Kombat mine, Namibia. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 144, 409-420.
Olobatoke, R. Y., & Mathuthu, M. (2016). Heavy metal concentration in soil in the tailing dam vicinity of an old gold mine in Johannesburg, South Africa. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 96(3), 299-304.
Rashed, M. N. (2010). Monitoring of contaminated toxic and heavy metals, from mine tailings through age accumulation, in soil and some wild plants at Southeast Egypt. Journal of hazardous materials, 178(1-3), 739-746.
Rastmanesh, F., Moore, F., & Keshavarzi, B. (2010). Speciation and phytoavailability of heavy metals in contaminated soils in Sarcheshmeh area, Kerman Province, Iran. Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology, 85(5), 515-519.
Sey, E., & Belford, E. J. (2019). Levels of heavy metals and contamination status of a decommissioned tailings dam in Ghana. EQA-International Journal of Environmental Quality, 35, 33-50.
Ure, A. M., & Berrow, M. L. (1982). The elemental constituents of soils. In: Bowen HJM, Berrow MJ, Berrow ML, Cawse PA, Patterson DSP, Statham PJ, Ure AM (eds) Environmental chemistry: a review of the literature published up to mid- 1980. Royal Society of Chemistry, London. 2: 94–204.
Uugwanga, M. N., & Kgabi, N. A. (2020). Assessment of metals pollution in sediments and tailings of Klein Aub and Oamites mine sites, Namibia. Environmental Advances, 2, 100006.
Wang, L., Ji, B., Hu, Y., Liu, R., & Sun, W. (2017). A review on in situ phytoremediation of mine tailings. Chemosphere, 184, 594-600.
Warrick, A. W. (1998). Spatial variability. Environmental soil physics, 655-675.
Weissenstein, K., & Sinkala, T. (2011). Soil pollution with heavy metals in mine environments, impact areas of mine dumps particularly of gold-and copper mining industries in Southern Africa. Arid Ecosystems, 1(1), 53.
Zhang, X. Y., Yue-Yu, S. U. I., Zhang, X. D., Kai, M. E. N. G., & Herbert, S. J. (2007). Spatial variability of nutrient properties in black soil of northeast China. Pedosphere, 17(1), 19-29.
Iranian Journal of Soil and Water Research
Volume 52, Issue 2
May 2021
Pages 421-437

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics