Heavy Metal Contamination, Mineral Composition and Spectral Characteristics of Reddish Brown Precipitation Occurring at Osip Stream Drainage, Gangwon-do

&#160;Heavy metal contamination in soils of mining area accompanies contaminations in drainage and vegetation. The traditional soil survey methods for heavy metal contamination requires significant investment of time, labor, and money although the methods can drive accurate assessment. Moreover, the point-based survey is problematic to understand spatial distribution with limited sample numbers. Remote sensing approaches may provide alternative solutions to understand spatial distribution of contamination with minimal investment of time and labor. It is very critical to understand spectral signals associated with heavy metal concentration to apply the phenomenon to remote sensing approaches. This study investigated spectral signals associated with heavy metal concentration in mine soils based on chemical analysis, mineral composition analysis, and spectral analysis. The study site is a Pb-Zn skarn ore deposit located in Gangwon province, South Korea, where the ore was formed by granite intrusion to slate and limestone. The chemical analysis revealed that the soils are contaminated with heavy metals. Mineral composition classified the soils into two time with silicate/clay mineral group and silicate/carbonate/clay mineral groups. Spectral analysis showed that sensitive spectral bands to heavy metal concentration is located in SWIR region for silicate/clay mineral group and VNIR region for silicate/carbonate/clay mineral group. It reveals that mineral composition and geochemical reaction play an important role in spectral signals manifested by heavy metal concentration. &#160;

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Heavy Metal Contamination Characteristics and Spectral Characteristics of White Precipitation occurring at Miin Falls Drainage

Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea ◽

10.9727/jmsk.2016.30.1.31 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 31-43 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jeong Hwa Lim ◽

◽

Jaehyung Yu ◽

Ji Hye Shin ◽

Yong Sik Jeong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metal ◽

Metal Contamination ◽

Heavy Metal Contamination ◽

Spectral Characteristics

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Spectral Responses of As and Pb Contamination in Tailings of a Hydrothermal Ore Deposit: A Case Study of Samgwang Mine, South Korea

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs10111830 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 1830 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Yongsik Jeong ◽

Jaehyung Yu ◽

Lei Wang ◽

Ji Shin

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metal ◽

Hydrothermal Alteration ◽

Metal Contamination ◽

Heavy Metal Contamination ◽

Spectral Characteristics ◽

Mining Area ◽

Ore Deposit ◽

Alteration Minerals ◽

Spectral Responses ◽

Pb Concentration

We analyzed chemical composition, mineralogy, and spectral characteristics of the tailings of a hydrothermal gold mine in South Korea. We measured spectral responses of tailings to arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) concentration and developed and validated a prediction model for As and Pb in the tailings. The tailing was heavily contaminated with heavy metal elements and composed of rock forming minerals, gangue minerals and hydrothermal alteration minerals. The spectral features of the tailing were closely related to hydrothermal alteration minerals. The spectral responses associated with As and Pb concentrations were detected in shortwave infrared (SWIR) region at absorption positions of the hydrothermal alteration minerals. The prediction models were constructed using spectral bands of absorption features of the hydrothermal alteration minerals and were statistically significant. We found distinctive differences in spectral characteristics and spectral response to heavy metal contamination between the tailings and soils in the mining area. While the spectral signals to heavy metal concentration of tailings were associated with the hydrothermal alteration minerals, those of soils in mining area were manifested by clay minerals originated from weathering processes. This infers that geological processes associated with formation of soils and tailings are the major controlling factors of spectral responses to heavy metal contamination. This study provides a rare reference for the estimation of As and Pb concentration in the tailings with similar types of ore deposit and host rock.

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