Contaminated soils of Degtyar copper mine (Middle Urals)

Degtyarsky copper mine worked from 1914 to 1995, developing the copper-pyrite deposit of the same name. After the cessation of mining operations and the suspension of drainage, there was a flooding of mine workings and the release of drainage acidic mine waters to the surface in the area of the Kolchedannaya mine quarry. These self-draining acidic mine waters have become a major source of chemical pollution of all environmental components, including the soil cover. Two types of soils have been identified on the territory of the Degtyarsky ore field: technogenic lithozems and natural soils. Lithozemes as bulk formations are common within the ore field from the discharge of drainage waters to latitude slightly north of the Severnaya mine. The article provides a layer-by-layer description of the section of technogenic soil. Unlike the dumps of the host rocks formed near the mine workings and polluted by decomposed "local" sulfides "in situ," lithozemes, as secondary filled formations of the same mineralized dumps, are additionally polluted "ex situ" by mine waters flowing through them. In some points of lithozems, the content of cadmium exceeds the standard by 100 times, copper – 102 times, zinc – 66 times and lead – 18 times, and the total pollution indicators (Zc) correspond to an extremely high degree of technogenic pollution of disturbed lands. The average amount of damage to technical land amounted to more than 1 billion 260 million rubles. For recreation of contaminated technogenic soils, a sorbent-oriented method based on the principles of «green utilization» of technogenic waste is proposed. With a cost of a meliorant sorbent of 2,400–2,900 rubles per 1 ton, recreation of 50 hectares of lithozems and part of contaminated natural soils will cost 220 million 650 thousand rubles. This is six times less than the economic damage caused to soils as a result of toxicant pollution. After recreation, a recreational forest park zone for recreation of residents of the city of Degtyarsk should appear on the territory of contaminated soils.

Storozhenko L. A., Shaikhutdinova M. M., Lebzin M. S., Prokopeva A. A., Boltyrov V. B. Contaminated soils of Degtyar copper mine (Middle Urals). MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2026;(12):118-133. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236_1493_2026_12_0_118.

The study was carried out at the expense of a grant from the Russian Science Foundation No. 24-17-20033 and Agreement No. 8-26-OG of 27.03.2025 at the expense of the regional budget for the implementation of the project, https://rscf.ru/project/24-17-20033/.

L.A. Storozhenko¹, Cand. Sci. (Geol. Mineral.), Assistant Professor, Head of Chair; LLC «Gingeo», 620014, Yekaterinburg, Russia, e-mail: stor_luba@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4185-956X,
M.M. Shaikhutdinova¹, Head of Laboratory, Lecturer, e-mail: merfeiyr@yandex.ru, ORCID ID: 0009-0004-4965-2103,
M.S. Lebzin¹, Junior Researcher, e-mail: az_ma@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5959-135X,
A.A. Prokopeva¹, Training Master, Lecturer, e-mail: ana.prokopeva.2000@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0009-0003-9087-2864,
V.B. Boltyrov¹, Dr. Sci. (Geol. Mineral.), Professor, Professor, e-mail: boltyrov34@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5564-0054,
¹ Ural State Mining University, 620144, Yekaterinburg, Russia. 

M.S. Lebzin, e-mail: az_ma@mail.ru.

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