“…As a result, extensive research has been conducted for soils, vegetation, and water bodies in and around Pb-Zn tailings impoundments (Bao et al, 2018;Chen et al, 2022;Li et al, 2018;Yang and Chen, 2023;Yang et al, 2019;Zhang et al, 2018). However, HMs could also be adsorbed and/or co-precipitated by secondary minerals generated in tailings, which affects heavy metal migration and transformation Sikdar et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2022;Zhou et al, 2022;Bao et al, 2022;Chen et al, 2023). Heavy metals release and subsequent adsorption and/or precipitation in Pb-Zn tailings and watersheds are closely linked to sulfide weathering, acid generating, and neutralization, mainly dependent upon the Pb-Zn tailings mineralogy.…”