The Heavy Metal Effects of Mineralization and Alteration Areas with Buried Ore Deposits Potential on the Surface Waters

Authors : Alaaddin VURAL, Ali GÜNDOĞDU, Fatih SAKA, Volkan Numan BULUT, Mustafa SOYLAK, Selçuk ALEMDAĞ

Pages : 21-33

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Publication Date : 2022-06-30

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This paper aims at elucidating the potential environmental risks associated with ore deposits and alteration areas related to these mineralizations by quantifying contamination in stream waters in the areas. For this purposes, 21 surface water samples were collected the streams and analyzed for heavy metals. Concentrations of heavy metals in surface waters reached 160 µg/L for Al, 2886,4 µg/L for Mn, 13147 µg/L for Fe, 58,18 µg/L for Co, 1644 µg/L for Zn, 100 µg/L for Cu, 2376 µg/L for Sr, 770 µg/L for Ba and 96,70 µg/L for Pb. In addition, high arsenic, cobalt, cadmium values were detected in some locations. Some other heavy metals are below the limit of detection. As a result of the study done, alteration areas with buried ore deposits potential and ore deposit areas have been found to cause heavy metal contamination in the surface waters around these environments, therefore, more detailed studies should be done on such fields and necessary precautions should be taken in order to avert the dispersal of contamination sourced those areas.
Keywords : Heavy metal contamination, Alteration area, Surface water, Gümüşhane