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An onsite survey of heavy metal pollution in the environment, including tailings, soil, and water around Cho Dien mine was conducted. There is considerable amount of heavy metal pollutants, such as As, Cu, Cd, Pb, Zn, present at various levels in soil, surface water, and drinking water. Note that, most of the soil samples are being severely polluted with Pb, Zn, Cd and As. The results showed that 100% of soil samples contained Pb and Zn exceeding the Vietnamese standards. Tailings sample was found to contain elevated levels of these pollutants. Overall, surface water and drinking water around the mining area were found to have low As, Cd, and Cu content. Meanwhile, there have been quality problems for drinking water and surface water containing relatively high concentrations of Pb, with 45.4% and 40% of total samples exceeding the allowable standard, respectively. High concentrations of Pb were found in some water samples collected from sites close to the mining area and tailings dam. Mining wastes and tailings are sources of heavy metal pollution and may result in ecotoxicological effects on terrestrial, groundwater and aquatic ecosystems. On the other hand, the source identification of contaminants was made partially by the examination of the distribution map and also based on what other researchers mentioned.

This paper presents the results of soil radon gas measurement in three areas, including Thac Ba and Song Tranh 2 hydropower plants, and the planned locations of the nuclear power plants Ninh Thuan 1&2 using solid-state nuclear track detectors (SSNTD) with the aim of clarifying the activity of tectonic faults in these areas. The activity of tectonic faults was assessed through radon activity index KRn (the ratio between anomaly and threshold), which was divided into 5 levels as follows ultra-high (K Rn > 10), high (10≥K Rn > 5), high (5≥K Rn > 3), medium (3≥K Rn > 2) and low (K Rn ≤2). Soil radon gas measurement results showed that in the radon gas concentrations in the Thac Ba hydropower plant area ranged from 72 Bq/m 3 to 273.133 Bq/m 3 and maximum radon activity index KRn reached 9.75 (high level). High K Rn indexes show Chay River fault active in recent time and the sub-meridian distribution of Rn anomalies suggested a right-slip motion of the fault. Rn concentrations in the Ninh Thuan 1&2 areas ranged from 6 Bq/m 3 to 52.627 Bq/m 3 , however, the K Rn indexes were mostly low (K Rn ≤3) and the highest value was only 3.42, suggesting that expression of activity of the tectonic faults in this region is not clear, even no expression of fault activity. In the Song Tranh 2 hydropower plant and adjacent areas, radon concentrations ranged from 29 Bq/m 3 to 77.729 Bq/m 3 and maximum K Rn index was 20.16 (ultra-high level). The faults having clearer activity expression are Hung Nhuong -Ta Vy, Song Tra Bong and some high order faults, especially the northwest -southeast segments of these faults or their intersections with the northwest -southeast faults. In addition, the high values K Rn in the mentioned intersections can be evidenced for the activeness of northwest -southeast faults at the present time. The studies on active faults using soil radon gas method were performed in areas with very different geological and structural features, but the results are well consistent with the results of previous investigations obtained by other methods. It confirmed the effectiveness and capability of soil radon gas geochemistry applying to study active tectonic faults.

The solid-state nuclear track detectors have long been applied to assess the activity of tectonic faults. We measured the Radon (R n) concentration in soil gas on 09 profiles with a total of 245 measurement points in Thua Thien Hue area (Vietnam). Measurement results show that the Rn concentration in soil gas ranges from ~10 Bq/m 3 to 144,570 Bq/m 3. There is a clear difference in the Rn concentration on the granite rock of Dai Loc complex compared to the remaining rocks. The calculated background value and anomaly threshold of Rn concentration on the granite rock of Dai Loc complex and on the remaining rocks are 33,488 Bq/m 3 , 82,839 Bq/m 3 and 5313 Bq/m 3 , 24,850 Bq/m 3 respectively. Spatial distribution of Rn concentration in soil gas reflects the existence of faults since Rn concentration increases at the points above or near fault lines. The level of expression of fault activity is assessed by radon activity index (K Rn), which is calculated by the ratio of anomaly value to background value of Rn concentration. According to K Rn , in Thua Thien Hue area, only the Dakrong-Hue fault shows a strong expression of activity with high and very high K Rn (the maximum K Rn = 27.21). The Truong Son, Huu Trach River, Ta Trach River and Bo River fault zones do not show clear activity with low and medium K Rn. There is no Rn anomaly value recorded on the Rao Trang fault, demonstrating that it is likely to be inactive at present. The study results indicate that the Rn concentration in soil gas is a strong evidence of the existence of faults or tectonic fracture zones as the Rn concentration always increases at the points above or near the fault line.