Mine waste dumps and heavy metal pollution in abandoned mining district of Boccheggiano (Southern Tuscany, Italy)

Abstract

 Mining activity in the Boccheggiano-Fontalcinaldo area (Southern Tuscany) dates back at least to the 16th century AD and lasted up to very recent times. Copper-rich hydrothermal veins, massive pyrite deposits, and their gossans were exploited. Two mine waste dumps (Fontalcinaldo, Fontebona), one flotation tailings impoundment (Gabellino), and one roasting/smelting waste dump (Merse-Ribudelli) in the study area were selected to ascertain the environmental effects of such protracted mining activity. Primary waste mineralogy is mainly characterized by pyrite, gypsum, quartz, carbonates, chlorites, and micas. Secondary oxidation mineralogy includes Fe and Cu sulfates and hydroxy sulfates, Cu carbonates, Fe and Al oxyhydroxides, and other phases [neogenic cassiterite at Fontalcinaldo; probable calkinsite, (Ce,La)₂(CO₃)₃· 4H₂O, at Fontebona]. Mine waste samples show extremely variable contents of toxic elements (Cu, Pb, Zn, Bi, Cd, As), with average values in the order of hundreds to thousands of parts per million (except for Bi and Cd). In some samples, the abundance of proper minerals of these metals cannot account for the entire metal load. Conceivably, either solid solution substitutions or adsorption processes contribute to the intake of released metals into newly formed minerals. Release and transport of pollutants was affected to variable degrees by acid-neutralization processes. The highest metal and acid concentrations occur close to the investigated wastes and rapidly decrease moving downstream some hundreds of meters or less, with the partial exception for Mn and Fe. Other than dilution effects, this phenomenon may be ascribed to metal adsorption and precipitation of solid phases.