Effects of mining operations on air and water quality in Mufulira district of Zambia: A case study of Kankoyo Township

Muma, D.; Besa, B.; Manchisi, James; Banda, Webby

doi:10.17159/2411-9717/952/2020

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Southern Africa (SA) is rich in large river basin networks, from the over 1.4 million km 2 Zambezi River Basin in the upper parts and extending further to the 0.4 million km 2 Limpopo and 0.9 million km 2 Orange River Basin systems southwards [1][2][3]. Given that most SA river basins hold vast mineral deposits, the mining waste generated by artisanal and mechanised mining industries has significantly affected the health of its aquatic ecosystems [4][5][6][7][8]. Nevertheless, progress has been made in assessing the ecological risks of mining and mineral processing to characterise and manage geogenic and anthropic aquatic pollution in SA [9][10][11][12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aquatic Ecological Risk of Heavy-Metal Pollution Associated with Degraded Mining Landscapes of the Southern Africa River Basins: A Review

2022

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Africa accounts for nearly 30% of the discovered world’s mineral reserves, with half of the world’s platinum group metals deposits, 36% of gold, and 20% of cobalt being in Southern Africa (SA). The intensification of heavy-metal production in the SA region has exacerbated negative human and environmental health impacts. In recent years, mining waste generated from industrial and artisanal mining has significantly affected the ecological integrity of SA aquatic ecosystems due to the accelerated introduction and deposition of heavy metals. However, the extent to which heavy-metal pollution associated with mining has impacted the aquatic ecosystems has not been adequately documented, particularly during bioassessments. This review explores the current aquatic ecological impacts on the heavily mined river basins of SA. It also discusses the approaches to assessing the ecological risks, inherent challenges, and potential for developing an integrated ecological risk assessment protocol for aquatic systems in the region. Progress has been made in developing rapid bioassessment schemes (RBS) for SA aquatic ecosystems. Nevertheless, method integration, which also involves heavy-metal pollution monitoring and molecular technology, is necessary to overcome the current challenges of the standardisation of RBS protocols. Citizenry science will also encourage community and stakeholder involvement in sustainable environmental management in SA.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aquatic Ecological Risk of Heavy-Metal Pollution Associated with Degraded Mining Landscapes of the Southern Africa River Basins: A Review

2022

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“…Mining developments can have a wide range of impacts on socio-ecological systems 3 , 4 . For example, contamination of water and soil with toxic chemicals is a significant problem in mining regions 47 – 49 . Tailings dams which store toxic by-products of mineral extraction processes in large reservoirs are a particular risk as they can fail causing pollution of soils and waterways which impacts land at some distance from the mine itself 50 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quasi-experimental analysis of new mining developments as a driver of deforestation in Zambia

Morley

Buchanan

Mitchard

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Mining is a vital part of the global, and many national, economies. Mining also has the potential to drive extensive land cover change, including deforestation, with impacts reaching far from the mine itself. Understanding the amount of deforestation associated with mining is important for conservationists, governments, mining companies, and consumers, yet accurate quantification is rare. We applied statistical matching, a quasi-experimental methodology, along with Bayesian hierarchical generalized linear models to assess the impact on deforestation of new mining developments in Zambia from 2000 to present. Zambia is a globally significant producer of minerals and mining contributes ~ 10% of its gross domestic product and ~ 77% of its exports. Despite extensive deforestation in mining impacted land, we found no evidence that any of the 22 mines we analysed increased deforestation compared with matched control sites. The extent forest lost was therefore no different than would likely have happened without the mines being present due to other drivers of deforestation in Zambia. This suggests previous assessments based on correlative methodologies may overestimate the deforestation impact of mining. However, mining can have a range of impacts on society, biodiversity, and the local environment that are not captured by our analysis.

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An assessment of four decades atmospheric PM2.5 trends in urban locations over Southern Africa using MERRA-2 reanalysis

Nyasulu

Thulu

Alexander³

2023

Air Qual Atmos Health

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Effects of mining operations on air and water quality in Mufulira district of Zambia: A case study of Kankoyo Township

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Aquatic Ecological Risk of Heavy-Metal Pollution Associated with Degraded Mining Landscapes of the Southern Africa River Basins: A Review

Aquatic Ecological Risk of Heavy-Metal Pollution Associated with Degraded Mining Landscapes of the Southern Africa River Basins: A Review

Quasi-experimental analysis of new mining developments as a driver of deforestation in Zambia

An assessment of four decades atmospheric PM2.5 trends in urban locations over Southern Africa using MERRA-2 reanalysis

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