Eucalyptus Leaves as Potential Indicators of Gold Mine in Indonesia

Eucalyptus is a plant that is able to absorb gold (Au) particles from the soil and store them in the leaves. Eucalyptus roots have the ability to penetrate the soil of the calcrete zone, which is rich in the mineral calcium (Ca). Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. and contains Au particles as impurities, making this plant a potential natural indicator (biogeochemical) of potential Au metal mining. The Au content in eucalyptus leaves can be determined by using the XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence) instrumentation material analysis method for qualitative analysis and AAS (Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy) for quantitative results. The form of XRF characterization of the intensity versus energy spectrum of certain elements from the XRF analysis results obtained is a spectrum with a peak power of 9.731 keV which indicates the presence of Au metal in the sample. The results obtained qualitatively are the Au metal content in the eucalyptus leaf sample of (9.0 ± 0.5) ppm. However, the Au metal content in each leaf sample was different. This provides information that Eucalyptus from different plants has the potential to be a biogeochemical indicator of potential Au metal mining in Indonesia

Multisource Seismic Full Waveform Inversion of Metal Ore Bodies

The seismic exploration method could explore deep metal ore bodies (depth > 1000 m). However, it is difficult to describe the geometry of the complex metal ore body accurately. Seismic full waveform inversion is a relatively new method to achieve accurate imaging of subsurface structures, but its success requires better initial models and low-frequency data. The seismic data acquired in the metal mine area is usually difficult to meet the requirements of full waveform inversion. The passive seismic data usually contains good low frequency information. In this paper, we use both passive and active seismic datasets to improve the full waveform inversion results in the metal mining area. The results show that the multisource seismic full waveform inversion could obtain a suitable result for high-resolution seismic imaging of metal ore bodies.

Comparative study on As(III) and As(V) adsorption by CO32--intercalated Fe/Mn-LDHs from aqueous solution

Arsenic pollution prevails in rivers and reservoirs in nonferrous metal mining areas, especially in lead–zinc mining areas, which affects the health of the people residing in such areas. Arsenic usually exists as As(III) and As(V) in water, and the adsorption of As(III) and As(V) changes with the type of adsorbent used. In this work, we report a novel adsorbent Fe/Mn–CO3-layered double hydroxide (Fe/Mn–CO3-LDH) composite that can efficiently remove both As(III) and As(V) from water. When the initial concentrations of As(III) and As(V) were 5, 10 and 50 mg/L, the adsorption capacities were 10.12–53.90 and 10.82–48.24 mg/g in the temperature range of 25–45 °C, respectively. The adsorption kinetics conformed well to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, with all of the fitted correlation coefficients being above 0.998 for all the three initial concentrations (5, 10 and 50 mg/L) tested, suggesting a chemisorption-dominated process. The adsorption isotherms of As(III) and As(V) by Fe/Mn–CO3-LDHs conformed better to the Freundlich model than to the Langmuir one, indicating a heterogeneous reversible adsorption process. The theoretical maximum adsorption capacity increased with the increase in temperature. During adsorption, As(III) was partially converted to As(V), which was further interacted with intralayer anions. While the electrostatic attraction played an important role in the adsorption of As(V).

The Impact of Metal Mining on Global Water Stress and Regional Carrying Capacities—A GIS-Based Water Impact Assessment

The consumption of freshwater in mining accounts for only a small proportion of the total water use at global and even national scales. However, at regional and local scales, mining may result in significant impacts on freshwater resources, particularly when water consumption surpasses the carrying capacities defined by the amount of available water and also considering environmental water requirements. By applying a geographic information system (GIS), a comprehensive water footprint accounting and water scarcity assessment of bauxite, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, uranium and zinc as well as gold, palladium, platinum and silver was conducted to quantify the influence of mining and refining of metal production on regional water availability and water stress. The observation includes the water consumption and impacts on water stress of almost 2800 mining operations at different production stages, e.g., preprocessed ore, concentrate and refined metal. Based on a brief study of mining activities in 147 major river basins, it can be indicated that mining’s contribution to regional water stress varies significantly in each basin. While in most regions mining predominantly results in very low water stress, not surpassing 0.1% of the basins’ available water, there are also exceptional cases where the natural water availability is completely exceeded by the freshwater consumption of the mining sector during the entire year. Thus, this GIS-based approach provides precise information to deepen the understanding of the global mining industry’s influence on regional carrying capacities and water stress.

VCAM-1 Is Upregulated in Uranium Miners Compared to Other Miners

The United States has a rich history of mining including uranium (U)-mining, coal mining, and other metal mining. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are largely understudied in miners and recent literature suggests that when compared to non-U miners, U-miners are more likely to report CVD. However, the molecular basis for this phenomenon is currently unknown. In this pilot study, a New Mexico (NM)-based occupational cohort of current and former miners (n = 44) were recruited via a mobile screening clinic for miners. Serum- and endothelial-based endpoints were used to assess circulating inflammatory potential relevant to CVD. Non-U miners reported significantly fewer pack years of smoking than U-miners. Circulating biomarkers of interest revealed that U-miners had significantly greater serum amyloid A (SAA), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1, ng/mL), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1, ng/mL), and VCAM-1 mRNA expression, as determined by the serum cumulative inflammatory potential (SCIP) assay, an endothelial-based assay. Even after adjusting for various covariates, including age, multivariable analysis determined that U-miners had significantly upregulated VCAM-1 mRNA. In conclusion, VCAM-1 may be an important biomarker and possible contributor of CVD in U-miners. Further research to explore this mechanism may be warranted.

Evaluation of heavy metal (Cu, Pb, Zn) distribution in base metal mining area at Sangkaropi: implication for land use planning

Settling-pond treatment systems have been applied in the base-metal mining area at Sangkaropi, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, before being discharged into the Koyan River through the agriculture area. This study aims to conduct a valuation of pollutant Pb, Cu and Zn in areas impacted by base-metal mining in sediment materials as a sensitive indicator for monitoring contaminants in the aquatic environment. Sediment sampling location, the first is in the upstream before the mining location, the second is located in the mining area to settling pond, and the third is in the area after settling-pond to the agriculture area. The concentrations of heavy metal were analyzed using uses AAS method. The assessment is performed based on the value of contamination degree, enrichment of heavy metal pollutant and ecological risk. The arrangement of the average frequency of heavy metal concentrations is Pb>Cu>Zn, which Cf and I-geo values have the almost same behavior. All metal in the upstream and agriculture site is classified as a low category, the Cu on the second and third sites is moderate. The assessment results from this study represent that Pb has a considerable ecological risk category value. However, polluted-Cu are categorized moderately need to be cautious, because metal enrichment comes from mineralization bedrock in the river. Therefore, the result of this study shows that geologic data, especially mineralized bedrocks associated the heavy metal concentration, should be taken into consideration in land-use planning policy in areas that have been impacted by mining and in the assessment of environmental health impacts.