Multielemental photon activation analysis of copper-molybdenum ores and products of processing using a microtron bremsstrahlung

A B S T R A C TThe objective of this research was to evaluate the level of heavy metal concentrations of copper, lead, zinc, cobalt, manganese, iron and nickle (Cu, Pb, Zn, Co, Mn, Fe and Ni) in correlation with human activities and land use at different sites of Erdenet, Mongolia. Samples of tree bark, lichens and street dust were collected and analyzed form the main highway, road intersections, residential areas, remote sites and the vicinity of the copper mine area near the city of Erdenet, Mongolia. The copper levels in all sampling sites with respect to all media differ from each other consistently and are clearly related to the distance from the copper mine. This indicates that the mining activities are the main source of copper rather than other anthropogenic activities in Erdenet, Mongolia. The lowest metal concentrations were found in residential areas. For street dust samples higher metal concentrations were found in the fine grains particles, which were attributed to higher surface area. This research provided strong evidence of air pollution as it could be concluded that tree bark and lichens can be recommended as efficient bioindicators of heavy metals air pollution in cold climate regions.

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“…Around 25 million tons of tail pulps are currently disposed every year to the storage in slag-heap tailing ponds (Gerbish et al, 1993).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%