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Geological impact of some tailings dams in Sardinia, Italy

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Environmental Geology and Water Sciences

Abstract

This article deals with the results of a survey carried out in Sardinia on both active and abandoned tailings dams, and we also discuss the geological impact of tailings dams of two mines: the Masua mine, a large syngenetic Pb-Zn deposit located in Cambrian limestones, and the Montevecchio mine, a Pb-Zn vein deposit near a Hercynian granite intrusion. The characteristics and metal content of material in the dams were analyzed. A high contamination of heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu) was found both in the soils and water of Rio Montevecchio, a stream draining the tailings dams and other mining operations in the area.

The study indicates that a control plan to minimize heavy metal pollution must be drawn up for all mines of the area, whether active or abandoned.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cagliari, Via Trentino 51, 09127, Cagliari, Italy

    Felice Di Gregorio & Raniero Massoli-Novelli

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  1. Felice Di Gregorio
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  2. Raniero Massoli-Novelli
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Di Gregorio, F., Massoli-Novelli, R. Geological impact of some tailings dams in Sardinia, Italy. Environ. Geol. Water Sci 19, 147–153 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01704082

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01704082

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