TY  - JOUR
AU  - Esshaimi, Mouhsine 
AU  - Ouazzani, Naaila 
AU  - Avila, Marta 
AU  - Perez, Gustavo 
AU  - Valiente, Manuel 
AU  - Mandi, Laila 
PY  - 2012
TI  - Heavy Metal Contamination of Soils and Water Resources Kettara Abandoned Mine
JF  - American Journal of Environmental Sciences
VL  - 8
IS  - 3
DO  - 10.3844/ajessp.2012.253.261
UR  - https://thescipub.com/abstract/ajessp.2012.253.261
AB  - Problem statement: Metal mining; together with mineral smelting and processing, have contaminated the environment surrounding mine areas throughout the world exceeding natural background concentration. Approach: These processes introduce metal contaminants into the environment through gaseous and particulate emissions, waste liquids and solid wastes.  The principal objective of this study was to investigate soil and water contamination in the vicinity of the kettara abandoned mine located in the South of Morocco. Results: High total concentrations of heavy metals were found in both tailings and soil samples. Furthermore in the tailings the maximum concentrations of the mobile fraction of metals were 76, 80 and 79 mg kg-1 of Cu, Pb and Zn, respectively, for the soil samples the maximum concentrations values were 68, 52 and 26 mg kg-1 of Cu, Pb and Zn, respectively. As a result of dispersion of the metals downstream and downslope, soils contained higher metal concentrations than those from nearby control sites (P