Water Pollution Assessment of an Abandoned Copper Mine in Lasail, Sultanate of Oman

Thenmozhi Murugaian PALANIVEL; Reginald VICTOR

doi:10.29227/IM-2019-01-40

Thenmozhi Murugaian PALANIVEL Dept. of Biology, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 36, Muscat-123, Oman
Reginald VICTOR Dept. of Biology, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 36, Muscat-123, Oman

DOI: https://doi.org/10.29227/IM-2019-01-40

Abstrakt

Abandoned mining sites are largely responsible for the release of heavy metals into water systems. This study assessed heavy metals
in the water collected from the mine sumps and bore-wells of an abandoned copper mine in Lasail, northern Oman. Other physiochemical
parameters of the water were also evaluated. The waters were extremely acidic with very high electrical conductivity.
Aluminium (Al), boron (B), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn) were in very high concentrations,
well above the limits recommended by Oman and World Health Organisation (WHO) standards. The principal component
analysis (PCA) explained 93% of the variability. The impact of mining on the water quality of Lasail area is presented and remediation
measures are recommended.