Assessment of metallic trace elements mobility from mine tailing and soils around abandoned Pb mine site in North East Morocco

Abstract

The concentration level of a certain metal in soil is often the guideline for evaluating its contamination level. In such a process, ecological standards are the guidelines for assessing ecological risks. In the presence of certain conditions, the risk of contamination can expand beyond the concerned area creating a threat that is based on mobility. Such threat cannot be overlooked and needs to be taken into consideration, as such the work below aims to assess the mobility of metallic trace elements M.T.Es (Pb, Cu, Cd, As, Ni, Cr and Zn) in different soils and mine tailing around an abandoned Pb Zeïda mine in Morocco. The sequential extraction followed a standard BCR four-step procedure and revealed that all M.T.Es were largely associated with the exchangeable and reducible fractions, exhibiting higher mobility susceptibility and bioavailability, except for As. This was consistent with the physico-chemical and mineralogical properties of the local geological composition.

Keywords

• Abandoned mine
• mobility
• sequential extraction
• soil contamination