Assessment of soil contamination by heavy metals and arsenic in Tamesguida abandoned copper mine area, Médéa, Algeria

Heavy metal and arsenic pollution of soil remains a serious environmental problem long after mining operations have ended. For instance, the Tamesguida copper mine located in north-central Algeria has been abandoned for several decades without restoration or even an environmental impact assessment. Therefore, soils were collected from several locations in the vicinity of the old mine and tailings and analyzed for their Cu, Cr, As, Pb, Ni, Zn, and Fe rates to gauge the scope of the soil contamination caused by these elements, and assessing their origin and their dispersion in the mine area. High copper and arsenic contents were recorded in tailings and surrounding soils, far exceeding the world average shale, crustal average, and local soils. Except for lead, the spatial distribution of heavy metals and As shows a decrease in content as one moves away from the tailings, and the correlation matrix and PCA performed associate the origin of these elements with previous mining activities. The pollution indices, notably contamination degree (CD) and the pollution load index (PLI), categorize the site as a highly polluted area.