Assessment of the pollutants in farming soils and waters around untreated abandoned Turkonu Mercury Mine (Turkey)

There are several abandoned Hg mines located in western Turkey. Hg production in these mines was eventually halted in the early 1990s because of low prices and environmental concerns (Gemici, 2004). However, acid mine drainage waste causes potential environmental problems near the Hg mines. In Turkonu Hg mine (Fig. 1) nearly 7,000 flasks of mercury had been produced in recent years. In 1965 a private company began to investigate the deposit and by 1968 had installed a 100-tpd rotary furnace. Since, the ore supply has been inadequate and the furnace plant used to process ore hauled from other deposits. Mercury production was terminated in 1975, owing to low prices, and in 1976 the furnace plant was used to process antimony ore (Yildiz and Bailey, 1978). Areas near the mine are currently being used for agricultural purposes. Soils are directly influenced by contaminants, leaching from the mine wastes, which are transported by surface waters in the rainy season. The aim of this study is to evaluate the geochemical dispersal within soil and water,of Hg derived from the abandoned Turkonu mine relating to past mining activities.