Determination of contamination sources and geochemical behaviors of metals in soil of a mine area using Cu, Pb, Zn, and S isotopes and positive matrix factorization.

The use of multiple isotopic ratios and statistical methods can substantially increase the reliability and precision of determining contamination sources and pathways. In this study, contamination sources were differentiated in three subareas in one mine area and geochemical processes were investigated using Cu, Pb, Zn, and S isotopes and positive matrix factorization (PMF). Soil samples downstream of the adit seepages exhibited distinctly higher δCu values than those from other areas. δCu in adit seepages increased substantially from ore sulfides owing to large isotopic fractionation during oxidative dissolution. Although δCu decreased during sulfide precipitation in seepage-contaminated soil, the discrimination of δCu was still valid. Therefore, δCu is particularly useful for differentiating between contamination by sulfides (tailings) and water (adit seepages). Moreover, sulfide precipitation following sulfate reduction was verified by the decreased δZn and δS in the soil. In addition, the plot of Pb/Pb versus Pb distinguished contamination sources. Furthermore, PMF analysis confirmed the determination of sources and differentiated between contamination by As- and Cu-enriched tailings. The effect of Cu-enriched tailings further downstream suggested that the lower specific gravity of chalcopyrite compared to that of arsenopyrite affected the distribution of soil contamination.