Gold mining impact on riverine heavy metal transport in a sparsely monitored region: the upper Lake Baikal Basin case

Gold mining at the Zaamar Goldfield (Mongolia) has significantly increased riverine heavy metal transport in the Tuul River-Selenga River-Lake Baikal water system, with total annual mass flows of Al, As, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn rising by 44.3%, 30.1%, 65.7%, 47.8%, 1.48%, 76.0%, and 65.0% respectively due to mining activities. Despite alkaline conditions limiting dissolution on-site, suspended sediment concentrations are much higher than dissolved ones, posing potential environmental risks. The study, which combined historical data, long-term monitoring, and novel field campaigns, highlights the Selenga River Basin as one of the world's most impacted areas for heavy metal loads, contributing 1% and 3% to global dissolved Fe and Pb fluxes respectively. Single hydrological events can further amplify suspended load concentrations by at least an order of magnitude.

Thorslund, J., Jarsjö, J., Chalov, S. R., & Belozerova, E. V. (2012). Gold mining impact on riverine heavy metal transport in a sparsely monitored region: the upper Lake Baikal Basin case. Journal of Environmental Monitoring, 14(10), 2780. https://doi.org/10.1039/c2em30643c