Major environmental and ecotoxicological processes of heavy metals in Lean River polluted by discharges from mining activities

This paper summarizes the major environmental and ecotoxicological processes of heavy metals pollution from Dexing Copper Mine in Jiangxi Province based on various findings in the Cooperative Ecological Research Project (CERP; Tang, 1994). It shows the knowledge necessary to elucidate metal pollution and its ecological implications. Processes devoted to the ecological implication include generation of acid mine drainage, formation of secondary minerals from precipitation, temporal and spatial distribution of metal pollutants in sediments and relevant toxicity, as well as ecosystem alternation which may relate to chemical pollution. From the results, it was stated that the major emphasis should be placed on the environmental processes associated with sediment pollution by heavy metals. It shows that ad/desorption on the inorganic minerals, such as Fe/Al oxyhydroxides, play an important role in the immobilization of heavy metals in this river. There were clear indications that metal pollution has resulted in the toxicological and ecological consequences and there would be the risk of secondary pollution in the way of mobilization of bound metals to the overlying water when environmental conditions are varied.