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21ГЕОГРАФИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ
IMPACT OF THE GOLD MINING AND GOLD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES ON THE PHYSICAL STATE OF LIVING ORGANISMS
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Kazhkenova BA. , Yessimova D.D. , Redkin A.G.
1Kazhkenova Balzhan Altynbekovna - Master Candidate;
Yessimova Dinara Dautovna - Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor,
DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND TOURISM, FACULTY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, TORAIGYROV UNIVERSITY, PAVLODAR, REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN;
Redkin Alexander Germanovich - Candidate of Geographical Sciences, Associate Professor,
DEPARTMENT OF RECREATIONAL GEOGRAPHY, TOURISM AND REGIONAL MARKETING, ALTAI STATE UNIVERSITY, BARNAUL
Abstract: the influence of gold-mining dump waste on the environmental situation is studied. Heavy metals contained in the tailings of the gold mining industry have a detrimental effect on the environment. The influence of certain heavy metals on living organisms has also been studied.
Keywords: gold mining, enrichment of gold minerals, heavy metals, soil bacteria, anthropogenic influence, the influence of heavy metals on living organisms, cadmium, zinc, chromium.
Technological progress through all civilizations' history has prompted humanity to more and more exploitation of the minerals of our planet. With the development of civilization, the human need for coal, oil, ferrous and non-ferrous metals only grew and is still growing. Now the world will literally stop if there is a failure in the production of non-ferrous and ferrous metals, and this is our given and our present. Without lithium in the batteries of our devices, without medical steel in scalpels, without steel structures in buildings, our world will suffer an unenviable fate. It's hard to overstate the importance of mining, but the whole industry is
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undoubtedly hurting our planet. Gold is one of the most important metals in the history of mankind. Precious metal has always been valued as a material for the manufacture of luxury goods, it was used as a means of money, the possession of a sufficient amount of gold made a person a significant figure in the eyes of society. At present, the state of affairs has remained almost unchanged, except that the scope of application of the precious metal has undoubtedly expanded.
Today, gold is necessary not only for making jewelry, gilding products and creating protective coatings, but it is widely used in electronics. Chemistry, medicine, and even the construction of spacecraft engines do not do without the use of yellow metal. What price does the ecological state of our planet pay for such rapid progress? Without a doubt, industry is what makes our world look the way it does: relatively comfortable and convenient. But is there a price? Decidedly Yes, and by no means small.
The construction of gold mining and gold processing enterprises entails undoubted harm to the environment. There are several types of sources of harm to nature. These include geomechanical, hydrodynamic, aerodynamic, and biomorphological disturbances. Construction of industrial sites for drilling operations, construction of roads, construction of communications, municipal and industrial buildings, buildings and structures of the gold processing enterprise itself, as well as mining by underground or open - pit methods-all this is a source of so-called geomechanical violations. The construction of gold mining and gold processing enterprises entails undoubted harm to the environment. There are several types of sources of harm to nature. These include geomechanical, hydrodynamic, aerodynamic, and biomorphological disturbances. Construction of industrial sites for drilling operations, construction of roads, construction of communications, municipal and industrial buildings, buildings and structures of the gold processing enterprise itself, as well as mining by underground or open - pit methods-all this is a source of so-called geomechanical violations.
Hydrodynamic disturbances include the device of water intake, mine drainage, the device of technological tanks and upland ditches. The calm of air flows is disturbed by the construction of
installations that change and disturb the speed, direction and intensity of wind in a certain area. Ventilation of industrial facilities and evaporation from the surface of technological tanks violates the composition of atmospheric air, which invariably leads to a deterioration of the environmental situation in a particular region. Clearing industrial sites of shrubs and trees, laying communications, removing and storing the upper fertile layer of land - all this is a factor of concern for wild animals and birds. They are a source of biomorphological disorders. The anthropogenic impact on the environment is large and extensive, including many types of such influence.
Violation of the natural landscape is expected to lead to a failure of the initial state of biocenoses in the alienated areas and territories adjacent to the enterprise. Migration routes of wild birds and animals are changing, and noise pollution also adversely affects animal populations. Anthropogenic influence leads to changes in the composition of the atmosphere, soil and water pollution [1, 2].
What is contained in the usual drains of gold mining enterprises? Whatever the method of gold enrichment, waste of any kind of production contains a large amount of heavy metals and other substances harmful to nature. Environmental pollution from gold mines is mainly associated with the release of harmful elements from technical tanks and mines. Water infiltration through tailings dumps and ponds containing harmful substances, surface and underground workings, waste and worked-out rocks lead to leaching of large volumes of metals into river ecosystems, such as zinc, Nickel, lead, mercury, arsenic and copper [3].
Wastes which are buried in the so-called tailings, would seriously affect the quality of surface water and groundwater. Underground impacts are caused by the inflow of water into underground workings and subsequent dewatering of the aquifer. Chemicals used in gold processing are a serious source of contamination. In 2011, it is estimated that companies operating in low-concentration gold mines used more than 1,400 tons of mercury and dumped an average of 1,000 tons of liquid metal annually. One-third of this calculated value goes into the air, and the rest is mixed in tailings dumps with soil and water [4].
Cyanidation, another method of extracting gold, leads to the release of hydrogen cyanide, which is one of the causes of global warming, as well as cyanidation leads to the production of a huge amount of heavy metals in the tailings of production [5].
In General, heavy metals play an important role in the life of plants, animals, people, and even microorganisms. Metals such as zinc, copper, Nickel, cobalt, and chromium are trace elements and are involved in the redox processes of the body. They play an important role in the stabilization of molecules through electrostatic interactions, regulation of osmotic pressure, and are necessary materials for the creation of numerous enzymes [6].
Non-essential metals such as silver, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury are harmful. They have no value for the body, and their presence in the ecosystem adversely affects life. Violation and acceleration of the natural process of the geochemical cycle as a result of anthropogenic activities, such as gold mining, has led to the fact that the concentration of heavy metals in the soils of rural and urban areas is higher than acceptable standards [7].
Increased concentrations of heavy metals in mine tailings significantly affect the diversity, population size, and overall bacterial activity. Heavy metals affect the metabolism, growth, and morphology of soil bacteria as a result of functional disruption, destruction of cell membrane integrity, or protein denaturation. Bacteria play an important role in the decomposition of soil organic matter, and any reduction in bacterial diversity or biomass can have a profound effect on the uptake of nutrients from the soil by plants. Many studies have shown that heavy metal contamination leads to shifts in microbial populations [8, 9].
Various Toxicological and biological effects of heavy metals occur as a result of various forms of oxidation, in which heavy metals are involved. The degree of oxidation depends on the type and amount of redox potential of the metal, pH, and microbial activity [10]. Heavy metal toxicity is caused by modification of the conformational structure of nucleic acids, proteins, or interference with oxidative phosphorylation and osmotic balance [11]. Some heavy metals, such as cadmium, silver, and mercury, can attach to the sulfhydryl groups of important enzymes used in microbial
metabolism, thereby interfering with the activity of sensitive enzymes [12]. These substances can enter the food chain as a result of their absorption by edible plants [13].
Cadmium is one of the most toxic heavy metals for most organisms. Its concentration in uncontaminated soil is usually 1 mg/kg [14], but concentrations ranging from 6.4 to 11.7 mg/kg have been reported in gold mine tailings in Tanzania [15]. Cadmium affects many metabolic activities of soil bacteria, such as nitrogen mineralization, carbon mineralization, CO2 production, and enzymatic activity [16]. When ingested, it irritates the bronchi, causes kidney stones, liver damage, and various disorders of the immune and nervous systems [17].
The average natural Zn level in the earth's crust is 70 mg/kg, varying from 10 to 300 mg/kg [18]. Although the trace element is necessary for plants, bacteria, and humans for cell activity, its presence outside of normal physiological values is toxic due to its interaction with sulfhydryl groups or the replacement of other essential metals in a wide range of proteins [19]. In other words, zinc, by binding to the above-mentioned sulfhydryl groups, interferes with the normal activity of enzymes and, accordingly, disrupts the normal functioning of the body. At high concentrations in the human body, zinc causes tachycardia, nausea, headaches, asthma, hypoglycemia, pancreatitis, and other unpleasant symptoms [20].
The concentration of chromium varies from 2 to 60 mg/kg in uncontaminated soil, but its huge concentration was achieved in the tailings dumps of gold mines in Oman - 486 mg/kg [21, 22]. Chromium can usually be found in several forms (valences) in the environment, but hexavalent chromium is the most oxidized form and potentially dangerous substance due to its high solubility and mobility. This allows it to penetrate the cell membranes and pollute the soil and water. Studies have shown that hexavalent chromium is 100 times more toxic and 1000 times more mutagenic and carcinogenic than trivalent chromium [23]. The presence of chromium in the human body in high concentrations causes skin rashes, stomach and duodenal ulcers, disrupts the respiratory tract, weakens the immune system, damages the
kidneys and liver, provokes mutations, and interferes with the activity of enzymes [24].
Gold mining has played a huge role in the growth and maintenance of many countries ' economies, paying a huge price in the form of the formation and release of toxic waste that has a profound impact on the ecosystem. Although some heavy metals are necessary for the normal functioning of life processes, elevated concentrations of these metals, such as those found in the mining industry today, are toxic to living organisms. Not only is mining waste harmful to the environment, but improper resource extraction also adversely affects the ecological state of a particular region. In the future, it is necessary to create sparing methods of extraction and processing of minerals, since further exploitation of our planet at the usual pace can lead to irreversible consequences for humanity.
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