The Distribution of Arsenic Concentration around Gejiu Tin Mine, Yunnan, China

Abstract

In order to estimate the dispersion of arsenic released thorough mining activity, a total of 39 soil samples were taken around the Gejiu tin mine, Yunnan, China. The highest total arsenic concentration, 1.1 × 10⁴ mg kg⁻¹, was observed in the tailing. Although the concentration in soil samples was slightly lower than that in the tailings, higher than 5.1 × 10² mg kg⁻¹ of arsenic was still observed. A linear relation was observed between SiO₂ and Fe₂O₃, which can be used for estimating the dispersion of the tailings. A trend was observed that the higher the chemical index of alteration, the lower the arsenic concentration, which suggests the elution of arsenic from tailings through weathering.