The Impact of Medieval Mining upon the Environment of the Central Balkans

The paper examines the impact of medieval mining upon the environment, based upon the present state of the historiographical, archaeological, and geological research. By the middle of the 13th century a massive increase in the exploitation of precious metals is noted, inducing the appearance of settlements in the vicinity of the locations of extraction and production of ores. The problems of water and air pollution occurred, raised by the operation of smelteries inside these settlements or in their immediate vicinity. Although the presence of slag indicates certain metallurgical activity, it is hard to discern the precise purpose and the period of their activity without archaeological excavations. The increase in demand for fuel may have induced deforestation, so the rights to exploit forests were legally regulated. The scope of wood exploitation in the region of Šumadija has been judged by the research estimating the presence of potassium in the previously registered old slag deposits. It is hard to discern the general health status of the inhabitants of the mining regions, since a small portion of skeletal material is examined, not including the one from the most important mining center of Novo Brdo. The anthropological analysis indicates the problems caused by hard physical activity and poor hygiene. The present knowledge on the influence of heavy metals indicates the impact of past mining practices upon the environment and human health. Decomposition of sulphides in the discard deposits and old slag, as well as the leak of acid waters from old shafts, still affect the present pollution of water and soil in the vicinity of mining centres such as Rudnik and Srebrenica. These same reasons may have presented dangers for the population living there during the period of 15th to 17th century. The future archaeological research, with the inclusion of other disciplines, will bring more detailed understanding of the relationship between people and their environment in the mining regions of the Medieval Serbia.

Evaluation of the Energy Budget of the Fish Cyprinus Carpio in Acid Waters

The present study was focused on the influence of acid waters on the energy budget of the fish Cyprinus carpio. The experimental fish were tested in the experimental media (pH 5.0, 5.8, 6.6, and control 7.2) for 21 days for the bioenergetics evaluation. The fishes were fed by the fresh beef liver. The pH was upheld vigilantly throughout the investigation, after the experimental period, the results revealed the declined rates of food consumption (69.75 J/g/day), absorption (96.28 (J/g/day), conversion ( -30.76 Rate of energy conversion (J/g/day), and the hyper-metabolic rate (5.09 Energy metabolized KJ/animal) was observed in the fishes exposed to low pH 5.0, 5.8, and 6.6 respectively.

Analysis and Feasibility of Measures to Minimize the Impact of Acid Mine Waters Discharged by Abandoned Copper-Sulphide Mines on Hydrosphere of the Tagil River

Mass closure of copper-sulphide mining sites both in the Sverdlovsk Region and worldwide resulted in the emergence of environmental challenges. One of such challenges is generation and discharge of acid mine waters. Manmade and natural factors have their impact on chemical composition of mine waters due to activation of sulphides oxidation processes taking place in disturbed rock mass and mines. Concentrations of components in treated mine waters are much higher than MAC (dozens and hundreds of times for iron, copper and zinc). That results in pollution of hydrosphere which goes on for decades and spreads over large distances along rivers. Quite a few reasons cause environmental degradation of hydrosphere in old industrial districts. These are baseline amounts of metals in the hydrosphere, low rates of self-rehabilitation of dead pits, high amounts of acid waters, high amounts of contaminants in mine waters, imperfection of treatment systems. Given the demand of mine waters treatment over decades, improvement of existing treatment systems and implementation of new technologies are required.

MINERÍA Y CONTAMINACIÓN AMBIENTAL EN PIURA

MINERÍA Y CONTAMINACIÓN AMBIENTAL EN PIURA Julio Alberto Piscoya Arbañil Universidad Nacional de Piura – Escuela de Post Grado. Programa de Maestría en Ingeniería Ambiental. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33017/RevECIPeru2011.0053/ Resumen Objetivo: Determinar la existencia decontaminación ambiental por minería en Piura. Material y Métodos: se realizó un estudio descriptivo, transversal, observacional; utilizando trabajos de investigación y publicaciones sobre el tema a nivel nacional y en el extranjero. Se realizó triangulación de toda la información teórica y empírica.Resultados: Se encontraron evidencias de contaminación en aire, suelo y agua con productos como cianuro y mercurio. En minería informal (que produce 24 Tn. de oro al año).el problema se torna incontrolable por la difusión y desconocimiento de las localidades donde se practica y falta de estudios de impacto ambiental, que generan poco desarrollo de éstas comunidades. Existen zonas de actividad ilegal en Amazonas, Loreto, Ucayali, Loreto, Puno, Huánuco, Ica, Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cusco, Cajamarca, La Libertad, Piura, Lima, Pasco, Tacna y Moquegua.Conclusión: Existe contaminación del suelo, aire, aguas; hundimiento del suelo, ruidos y vibraciones, desperdicios y aguas servidas, drenaje ácido de roca (DAR) que genera aguas ácidas con sulfatos metálicos, riesgo de falla de depósitos en relave, descarga de sedimento por erosión de relaveras, precipitados de Fe(OH)3. Presencia de pasivos ambientales. En la industria minera del Perú se está desarrollándose la conciencia ambiental a nivel de la gran minería, no así en la pequeña o minería artesanal, se conocen los impactos ambientales con un diagnóstico parcial de los pasivos ambientales. Se pudo evidenciar que entre los metales que superan los límites permisibles según normas internacionales en el río Piura, están: Ba, Cr, Al, Cd, Ca, Fe, Hg, Ir, Mg, Mo, Ni, Pb, Si, Sr., Te, Ti, V, W, Zn, Zr. Palabras Claves: contaminación minera Piura, pasivos ambientales, rio contaminado metales. Abstract Objective: To determine the existence of environmental contamination by mining in Piura. Material and Methods: A descriptive, transversal, observational study, using papers and publications on the subject nationally and abroad. Triangulation was conducted of all the theoretical and empirical. Results: We found evidence of contamination in air, soil and water with products such as cyanide and mercury. Informal mining (which produces 24 tons. of gold per year). The problem becomes uncontrollable by widespread ignorance of the localities where they practice and lack of environmental impact studies, which generate little development of these communities. There are areas of illegal activity in Amazonas, Loreto, Ucayali, Loreto, Puno, Huánuco, Ica, Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cusco, Cajamarca, La Libertad, Piura, Lima, Pasco, Tacna and Moquegua. Conclusion: There contamination soil, air, water, land subsidence, noise and vibration, waste and wastewater, acid rock drainage (ARD) that generates acid waters with metal sulfates, risk of failure of tailings deposits, sediment erosion of tailings, precipitated Fe (OH) 3. Presence of environmental liabilities. In the mining industry in Peru is developing environmental consciousness of the great mining, but not in the small and artisanal mining, environmental impacts are known with a partial diagnosis of environmental liabilities. It was evident that among the metals that exceed allowable limits according to international standards in the Piura river, are: Ba, Cr, Al, Cd, Ca, Fe, Hg, Ir, Mg, Mo, Ni, Pb, Si, Sr., Te, Ti, V, W, Zn, Zr. Keywords: Piura mining pollution, environmental liabilities, metal contaminated river.

Metal Removal from Acid Waters by an Endemic Microalga from the Atacama Desert for Water Recovery

The environmental problems generated by waste from the mining industry in the mineral extraction for business purposes are known worldwide. The aim of this work is to evaluate the microalga Muriellopsis sp. as a potential remover of metallic ions such as copper (Cu2+), zinc (Zn2+) and iron (Fe2+), pollutants of acid mine drainage (AMD) type waters. For this, the removal of these ions was verified in artificial acid waters with high concentrations of the ions under examination. Furthermore, the removal was evaluated in waters obtained from areas contaminated by mining waste. The results showed that Muriellopsis sp. removed metals in waters with high concentrations after 4–12 h and showed tolerance to pH between 3 and 5. These results allow proposing this species as a potential bioremediator for areas contaminated by mining activity. In this work, some potential alternatives for application in damaged areas are proposed as a decontamination plan and future prevention.

Metal Removal from Acid Waters by an Endemic Microalga from the Atacama Desert for Water Recovery

The environmental problems generated by waste from the mining industry in the mineral extraction for business purposes are known worldwide. The aim of this work is to evaluate the microalga Muriellopsis sp. as a potential remover of metallic ions such as copper (Cu+2), zinc (Zn+2) and iron (Fe+2), pollutants of AMD type waters. For this, the removal of these ions was verified in artificial acid waters with high concentrations of the ions under examination. As well as, the removal was evaluated in waters obtained from areas contaminated by mining waste. The results showed that Muriellopsis sp. removed metals in waters with high concentrations after 4 to 12 hours and showed tolerance to pH between 3 to 5. These results allow proposing this species as a potential bioremediator for areas contaminated by mining activity. In this work, some potential alternatives for application in damaged areas are proposed as a decontamination plan and future prevention.

The environmental impact of the Copper industry in the Fani River Valley (Repsi "Hot spot") Mirdita, Albania

For more than 40 years, full cycle Copper industry has exercised its activity in central Mirdita, as one of the priorities for the economic development of this zone. Copper deposits have been discovered in many parts of the territory of central Mirdita, whereas the main activity of the mining and processing industry is located in the Fan iriver valley. The interruption of industrial activity after the years '90, could not stop the negative environmental impact. The presence of dumps in Fani river banks (as in Repsi, Rresheni and Rubiku) and numerous mining works· (addits) in Spaçi and Kodër Spaçi slopes, from which many acid waters drain, including also the natural leaching of surface outcrops of mineralized zones, make up a serious danger to the biodiversity of this area. Several recommendations to reduce the environmental impact of the tailings and copper ores in the dumps in Fani river valley are given in this paper