Statistical source identification of major and trace elements in groundwater downward the tailings dam of Miduk Copper Complex, Kerman, Iran

Abstract

Identifying the possible sources of potential harmful metals in groundwater systems plays a crucial role in evaluating the potential risks to residents and local plant cover. An attempt was made to define the origin of Al, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mo, Ni, and Pb in groundwater using multivariate statistic approaches [principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis], and tailings sequential extraction by the method of Tessier et al. The concentrations of studied elements were measured in 42 samples collected from 15 stations surrounding and downward the tailings dam of Miduk Copper Complex, central province of Kerman, Iran. According to the PCA results, confirmed by cluster dendrogram and metal content measurement of tailings sequential extracts, two components accounting for nearly 73% of the total variance, controlled the heavy metal variability and classified the possible source of groundwater contamination into two categories: (1) upper seepage which controls the variability of Cd, Cu, Fe, Ni, and Pb and (2) toe seepage of tailings dump affecting on Mo and Al concentration in downstream groundwater.

An Artificial Neural Network - Particle Swarm Optimization (ANN- PSO) Approach to Predict Heavy Metals Contamination in Groundwater Resources

“…Data in Table 1 (42). Also, Ramesh and Elango reported that the contents of elements in groundwater resources from Tondiar River Basin, Tamil Nadu, India with an average of 27.50, 0.10, and 9.90 µg/L for Zn, Pb, and Cu, respectively, and for all metals were lower than those of the MPL (43).…”

Real-Time Dry Beach Length Monitoring for Tailings Dams Based on Visual Measurement

“…Reinforced terraced fields method for fine tailings disposal was proposed in [23]. Statistical source identification method for groundwater downward the tailings dam was studied in [24], considering that identifying the possible sources of potential harmful metals in groundwater systems plays a crucial role in evaluating the potential risks to residents and local plant cover.…”