Abstract
This study investigated metals of tailings from Tonglvshan mine in Daye and assessed the effect of metal contamination in water and sediment near the tailing reservoir. The concentration of copper, lead, zinc, cadmium, chromium and nickel was measured in deposit samples taken from a profile in an abandoned flotation tailing reservoir, as well as in water and sediment samples near the reservoir. The results of this study indicate that copper concentration ranges from 780 to 4390 mg/kg, 2–10 times higher than the limit values in soil, while the contents of other metals are below the limit values. Metal levels in water and sediments are high and varied widely in different sampling sites. The mean concentrations of copper, lead, zinc, cadmium, chromium and nickel in waters are 27.76, 2.28, 8.20, 0.12, 5.30 and 3.04 mg/L, while those in sediments are 557.65, 96.95, 285.20, 0.92, 94.30 and 4.75 mg/kg, respectively. All of the results indicate that the environment near the tailing reservoir is polluted to some extent by some kinds of metals, especially by copper, lead, zinc and cadmium, which may be caused not only by some discharge sources of metals, but also by life garbage and sewage.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agrawal P, Mittal A, Prakash R, Kumar M, Singh TB, Tripathi SK (2010) Assessment of contamination of soil due to heavy metals around coal fired thermal power plants at singrauli region of India. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 85:219–223
Bi XY, Ren LM, Gong M, He YS, Wang L, Ma ZD (2010) Transfer of cadmium and lead from soil to mangoes in an uncontaminated area, Hainan Island, China. Geoderma 155:115–120
Cabrera F, Ariza J, Madejon P, Madejon E, Murillo JM (2008) Mercury and other trace elements in soils affected by the mine tailing spill in Aznalcollar (SW Spain). Sci Total Environ 390:311–322
China Environmental Monitoring Station (1990) Natural background values of soil elements in China. China Environmental Science Press, Bei**g (in Chinese)
Conesa HM, Faz A, Arnaldos R (2007) Initial studies for the phytostabilization of a mine tailing from the Cartagena-La Union Mining District (SE Spain). Chemosphere 66:38–44
Dudka S, Adriano DC (1997) Environmental impacts of metal ore mining and processing: a review. J Environ Qual 26:590–602
Feng JL, Wang GL, Sun JH, Sun SP, Liu XF (2010) Metals in water and surface sediments from Henan reaches of the Yellow River, China. Ser C Chem 53:1217–1224
Lai DS, Lin JB, Liu WS, Pan LK, Chu KH, Chen CY, Lin DB (2010) Metal concentrations in sediments of the Tamsui River, flows through central metropolitan Taipei. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 84:628–634
Lee CH, Lee HK (2004) Environmental impact and geochemistry of old tailing pile from the Sanggok mine creek, Republic of Korea. Environ Geol 46:727–740
Liu CB, Xu J, Liu CG, Zhang P, Dai MX (2009) Heavy metals in the surface sediments in Lanzhou reach of Yellow River, China. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 82:26–30
Marescotti P, Carbone C, de Capitani L, Grieco G, Lucchetti G, Servida D (2008) Mineralogical and geochemical characterisation of open-air tailing and waste-rock dumps from the Libiola Fe-Cu sulphide mine (Eastern Liguria, Italy). Environ Geol 53:1613–1626
Martin F, Diez M, Garcia I, Simon M, Dorronsoro C, Iriarte A, Aguilar J (2007) Weathering of primary minerals and mobility of major elements in soils affected by an accidental spill of pyrite tailing. Sci Total Environ 378:49–52
SEPAC (1995) Environmental Quality Standard for Soils (GB 15618–1995)
SEPAC (2002) China environmental quality standards for surface water (GB3838-2002)
Song YX, Ji JF, Mao CP, Yang ZF, Yuan XY, Ayoko GA, Frost RL (2010) Heavy metal contamination in suspended solids of Changjiang River: environmental implications. Geoderma 159:286–295
Triantafyllidis S, Skarpelis N, Komnitsas K (2007) Environmental characterization and geochemistry of kirki, thrace, NE Greece, abandoned flotation tailing dumps. Environ Forensics 8:351–359
Wong JWC, Ip CM, Wong MH (1998) Acid-forming capacity of lead-zinc mine tailings and its implications for mine rehabilitation. Environ Geochem Health 20:149–155
Yu XJ, Yan Y, Wang WX (2010) The distribution and speciation of trace metals in surface sediments from the Pearl River Estuary and the Daya Bay, Southern China. Mar Pollut Bull 60:1364–1371
Zhang M, Xu J, **e P (2007) Metals in surface sediments of large shallow eutrophic lake Chaohu, China. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 79:242–245
Zhang WG, Feng H, Chang JN, Qu JG, **e HX, Yu LZ (2009) Heavy metal contamination in surface sediments of Yangtze River intertidal zone: an assessment from different indexes. Environ Pollut 157:1533–1543
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by National Natural Science Fund of China (40872195). We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers and editors for their constructive suggestions of the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Guo, Y., Bao, Z.Y., Deng, Y.M. et al. Environmental Geochemistry of Abandoned Flotation Tailing Reservior from the Tonglvshan Fe-Cu Sulfide Mine in Daye, Central China. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 87, 91–95 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-011-0303-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-011-0303-2