Investigating the effects of gemstone mining on the environs: a case study of Komu in Southwestern Nigeria

This research examined the effects of gemstone mining by investigating soil and water samples collected from different locations of a mining community in Nigeria taking into consideration the concentration of heavy metals and micronutrients, physiochemical parameters and cation exchange capacity present in the samples. The concentrations of heavy metals (lead, copper, cadmium, zinc and iron), micro nutrients (sodium, magnesium and aluminium) and physiochemical parameters (pH, hardness, chloride, alkalinity, total solids, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, sodium and potassium) obtained from the sample locations varies from one location to another. When the results of soil and water analysis were compared with WHO standards, concentrations of most of the parameters analysed were lesser than the WHO acceptable limit. However, the concentrations of cadmium and iron in the soil samples are higher than the WHO permissible limit in soil which implies that the soil is toxic and not good for agriculture purposes.