Preliminary assessment of metal bioavailability to plants in the Neves Corvo area of Portugal

Biogeochemistry in Neves Corvo mining region, Iberian Pyrite Belt, Portugal

“…This study also includes an acid drainage system evaluation of the analytical data on sediments, water, mine waste dump material and parent rocks, compiled from Farago et al (1992), Grimes and Carvalho (1994) and Richards (1995). When reference is made to "observed data", these are data produced by this study, and to "compiled data" are data obtained from Farago et al (1992), Grimes and Carvalho (1994) and Richards (1995).…”

“…The data compiled from Farago et al (1992) included soils and plants collected in Neves Corvo area. Soils and plants were collected for the Farago study from April 1989 to 1990.…”

“…Biogeochemical studies were previously conducted in order to use plants as a bioindicator of buried orebodies, such as the Neves Corvo orebody (Farago et al, 1992;Grimes and Carvalho, 1994), or sources of metals upstream from Neves Corvo (Richards, 1995). In addition, Alvarenga (1997) and Batista (2003) also studied the behaviour of metals in the superficial environment of Neves Corvo and other IPB mines.…”

Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Microbiology of Molybdenum in Mining-Affected Environments

“…For most of these, the Mo concentrations exceed those for uncontaminated soils (<10 mg/kg [5]) and upper continental crust (1.1 mg/kg, [26]). Exceptions include soils more than 250 m from the Portuguese Neves Corvo Cu-Pb-Zn mine [27], mine tailings and soils from the Portugues Ervedoa Sn-As mine [28] and rhizosphere soil around the Spanish Panasqueira Sn-W mine [29]. These low concentrations may be due to the distance from the mine, or to low Mo concentrations in the original mine materials and background soils.…”

“…Farago et al [27] analyzed the Mo concentrations in the tops of Cistus species and leaves and twigs of Quercus rotundifolia near to, and 12 km from, the Neves Corvo copper mine in southern Portugal. These concentrations were compared to 'available' Mo in soils that the plants grew on, which was analysed using ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) chemical extractions.…”