Abstract
Environmental impact of the mining activities in the Mahd Adh Dahab gold mine was examined through detailed chemical analyses of a number of samples represent the gold-bearing rocks, soils, dust, and plants from inside and outside the mine area and within the Mahd City as well as the surrounding areas. The obtained data were compared with the standard values of heavy metals concentrations in order to evaluate the pollution levels of these activities on the different systems around the mine area. The data of rock samples shows relatively high concentrations of Cu (up to 11.9%), Pb (up to 4.1%), and Zn (up to 14.2%), which attributed to the outcropping of the sulfide-bearing veins on the surface of the mine area. Soil samples inside the mine area show high concentrations of Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb, and As compared to those from outside the mine indicating pollution impact of the mine activities on soils from inside the mine with these elements. Dust samples collected from inside the mine have considerably high concentrations of Cd, Zn, and Pb compared to those from outside the mine. Values of heavy metals in the collected dust from outside the mine are comparable with those from many big cities including Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia, indicating contaminations with heavy metals to the dust from inside the mine at Mahd Adh Dahab City. Heavy metals concentrations in the stems and leaves samples of the various types of plants inside and outside Mahd Adh Dahab gold mine area show that they have relatively higher concentrations of Cu and Zn compared to other metals. Stem samples show relatively higher concentrations of Zn, Cu, Cr, and V compared to the leaves samples. Although values of most heavy metals in the plants, both stems and leaves, are comparable with those of the typical levels of heavy metals in plants, Co and Cr show relatively higher concentrations suggesting a pollution impact of the mine activities in plants with Co and Cr. As a conclusion, results indicated that the contamination effect of Mahd Adh Dahab gold mine activities are clear in soils and dusts inside the mine area with some metals such Zn, Cu, Cd, and Pb due to their relatively enrichment in mineralization. Therefore, careful treatments of the waste dump materials inside the mine area are recommended to protect soils and air contaminations and to prevent the extension of pollution outside the mine in the future.