Assessment of the Ground and Plant Chemistry in an Area Affected by Rare Metal Ore Concentration Waste Storage

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an assessment of the ground and plant chemistry in disturbed areas exposed to impacts from adjacent rare metal ore concentration waste storage facilities.The focus of research were areas with sparse vegetation cover near the site of the first tailing storage facility (TSF), which is not exploited from 1985. In the summer of 2019, on three key plots within the study area, plant samples were collected at a small distance from the TSF and operating process transport routes (<1 km). Based on a bulk chemistry analysis of the ground samples, concentration values were measured above the background values adopted for the region’s soil parent rock materials, and in the absence thereof, the clarkes of elements in acidic (SiO2 >60%) rocks found in the earth's crust. Grounds were found to be rich in Ta, Ce, La, Th, Zr, Nb, which are also present in the loparite ores of various origins mined by the operation.The chemistry was examined of Salix spp. commonly found both in the study area and in the region as a whole and of wavy hair grass Avenella flexuosa L. An abnormally high level of zinc accumulation was observed in Salix lapponum (>850 mg/kg, biological absorption coefficient (BAC) >4), and technological transport influence was proposed as a possible cause. High paired correlation coefficients of rare and trace elements with Al and with each other (>0.9) in the bulk chemistry analysis of Salix spp. indicate the likelihood of deposition of minerogenetic dust particles. Based on the observed values of the BAC, the plants were classified into biological accumulation (BAC >1) and biological uptake (BAC <1) classes and the latter was found to be dominant.