Change in eco-geochemistry of bottom sediments in copper–pyrite mining area: A case-study of Karabash copper deposits

Development of the mining art in the Soimonov valley commenced in the first half of the 19th century. The technological advance and the growing needs of the industry promoted copper–pyrite mining in the area. Early in the 20th century, a copper smeltery was built in the valley. As a result, the huge amount of copper mining and processing waste have accumulated here by now. The plentiful induced flows from the waste dumps and the gas and dust emission from the mines gave birth to the anomalous zones of high concentrations of heavy metals in depositing media. Such depositing medium as bottom sediments is simultaneously a collector and a source of pollutants. Because of high health risk of direct or indirect interaction with the media–accumulators of pollutants, the eco-geochemistry of such media requires continuous control. During this research, 12 test sites differently located and spaced relative to pollution sources were explored, and bottom sediments were sampled. The samples were subjected to the X-ray diffraction analysis to determine their mineralogical compositions. The quantities of metals were determined from the X-ray spectroscopy. The obtained data were used to calculate geochemical rates of contamination and pollutant accumulation. The correlation dependence between metals contained in the bottom sediments was constructed. The calculated total contamination rate (Zc) allowed identifying local zones of high and extremely high levels of contamination. The enrichment factor (EF) helped distinguish between two groups of minerals: weathering-resistance and manmade. The bottom sediments mostly contain psammitic fractions. They are dominated by original minerals, quart and albite. The authigenic mineral of pyrite is present, as well. The chalcophylic and lithophylic elements in the bottom sediments are the main pollutants. These studies can be beneficial in terms of the ecological safety of the region, and can foster revision of copper–pyrite mining and storage technologies toward a gain in health and improvement of ecological situation.

Shabanov M. V., Marichev M. S., Minkina T. M., Rajput V. D., Bauer T. V. Change in eco-geochemistry of bottom sediments in copper–pyrite mining area: A case-study of Karabash copper deposits. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2023;(5-1):117-134. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236_1493_2023_51_0_117.

The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, Project No 21-77-20089, in Southern Federal University.

M.V. Shabanov¹, Cand. Sci. (Agric.), Assistant Professor, e-mail: geohim.spb@gmail.com, Scopus Author ID: 35171489500, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4725-3673,
M.S. Marichev¹, Cand. Sci. (Biol.), Head of Laboratory, e-mail: m.s.marichev@yandex.ru, Scopus Author ID: 57216298057, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0429-2234,
T.M. Minkina², Dr. Sci. (Biol.), Professor, Head of Chair, e-mail: minkina@sfedu.ru, Scopus Author ID: 15063165400, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-3022-0883,
V.D. Rajput², PhD, Cand. Sci. (Biol.), Leading Researcher, e-mail: rajput.vishnu@gmail.com, Scopus Author ID: 56516545100, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6802-4805,
T.V. Bauer², PhD, Cand. Sci. (Biol.), Senior Researcher, e-mail: bauertatyana@mail.ru, Scopus Author ID: 55928833000, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6751-8686,
¹ Saint-Petersburg State Agrarian University, Saint-Petersburg, Pushkin, Russia,
² Southern Federal University, 344006, Rostov-on-Don, Russia, 2 Southern Federal University, 344006, Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

M.S. Marichev, e-mail: m.s.marichev@yandex.ru.

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