Impact of different illegal Artisanal Small-Scale Mining techniques on soil properties in a major mining landscape in Ghana

Q2 Environmental Science
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Abstract

The widespread prevalence of illegal Artisanal Small-Scale Mining has raised significant concerns about its environmental and health impacts. This study investigates the effects of two mining methods (alluvial and chamfi) on soil physical, chemical, and microbial properties four years after mining in three municipalities of the Western Region of Ghana. The study identified four species of Aspergillus fungi (niger, flavus, ochraceous and fumigatus) and Trichoderma species in both mined and control soils. The quantity of A. fumigatus was significantly higher in control plots compared to mined plots. In alluvial sites, bacterial numbers were significantly higher in control plots than in mined plots, while in chamfi sites, bacterial numbers did not differ significantly between mined and control plots. Soil texture in both mined sites was predominantly sandy loam and loamy sand, with a generally high silt to clay ratio. Mined plots at both sites were significant and more acidic (p < 0.05) than the control plots. Additionally, cation exchange capacity (CEC), electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), phosphorus (P), potassium (K+), calcium (Ca2+), and magnesium (Mg2+) levels were significantly higher in control plots compared to mined plots. The control plots also exhibited higher base saturation and lower exchangeable acidity than mined plots. Bacteria count at Chamfi sites was generally higher at mined areas than the control sites, with the reverse being the case for Alluvial sites. Soil chemical parameters were higher at control areas than at mined sites, irrespective of the mining approach used. However, there was no clear pattern of differences in soil chemical properties at Chamfi and Alluvial mined sites. This study provides insights and additional perspectives for improving decision-making and guiding the potential restoration of these areas.

加纳主要矿区不同的非法小规模手工采矿技术对土壤特性的影响
非法小规模手工采矿的普遍存在引起了人们对其环境和健康影响的极大关注。本研究调查了加纳西部地区三个市镇的两种采矿方法(冲积采矿法和崩落采矿法)在采矿四年后对土壤物理、化学和微生物特性的影响。研究在采矿土壤和对照土壤中发现了四种曲霉菌(黑曲霉、黄曲霉、赭曲霉和烟曲霉)和毛霉菌。对照地块的烟曲霉数量明显高于布雷地块。在冲积层土壤中,对照地块的细菌数量明显高于布雷地块,而在占菲层土壤中,布雷地块和对照地块的细菌数量差异不大。两个采矿点的土壤质地主要是砂质壤土和壤土砂,淤泥与粘土的比例普遍较高。与对照地块相比,两个地点的采矿地块酸度明显更高(p <0.05)。此外,对照地块的阳离子交换容量 (CEC)、电导率 (EC)、有机碳 (OC)、总氮 (TN)、磷 (P)、钾 (K+)、钙 (Ca2+) 和镁 (Mg2+) 含量明显高于已开采地块。对照地块的碱饱和度和可交换酸度也高于雷区。在 Chamfi 地块,采矿区的细菌数量普遍高于对照地块,而冲积地块的情况正好相反。无论采用哪种采矿方法,对照区的土壤化学参数都高于采矿点。然而,在 Chamfi 和冲积矿区,土壤化学特性没有明显的差异。这项研究为改进决策和指导这些地区的潜在恢复提供了见解和新的视角。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Environmental Challenges
Environmental Challenges Environmental Science-Environmental Engineering
CiteScore
8.00
自引率
0.00%
发文量
249
审稿时长
8 weeks
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