Distribution, enrichment, and source of heavy metals in stream sediments from Sg. Koyan District, Pahang, Malaysia

Sg. Koyan district is located in Pahang along N-S Eastern gold belt. It is well known for gold mining activities. Such activities may contribute to heavy metals (HM) contamination that may impact the surrounding environment. While most current studies deal with economic geology research which ignore the impact of HMs contamination. This paper aims to study the distribution, source, and enrichment factor of As, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Sn, and Zn using Ti as proxy. Stream Sediments were collected followed by wet sieving, and borate fusion with 15% Nitric Acid for XRF and ICP-OES. These results were transformed into usable data for Cluster Analysis (CA). Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Enrichment Factor (EF). As the result, it is found that As and Zn having high enrichment factor of 10.2, and 10.4 (significant enrichment 5-20), respectively. From cluster analysis, As, and Zn are grouped together suggesting the source is from human rather than nature. Even though, the highest As concentration is found in Perangih Gold prospect. It is not surprising because As is found associated with gold deposit agreeable with PCA results. In conclusion, As, Co, Cu, Su, and Zn have anthropogenic sources, Mn is from organic matter with Cr has geogenic origin. Possible sources of anthropogenic may include vehicles, workshop, and even agricultural activities.