“…AMD is characterised by a lower pH, which favours the dissolution and leaching of lead and other heavy metals (HM) from both the mined rock (Ribeiro et al, 2020) and the waste dumps (Smirny et al, 2006). As a result of AMD, hydrochemical currents are formed from the dumps (Banerjee, 2014), leading to long-distance migration of contaminants (Zubov et al, 2019) and soil contamination. Contaminated soils contain Fe, Mn, Zn, Pb, Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr, and other elements above critical levels (Pandey et al, 2014;Manna & Maiti, 2018;Li et al, 2014).…”