Distribution and Source Apportionment of Heavy Metals in Soil around Dexing Copper Mine in Jiangxi Province, China

The soil heavy metal pollution around the mine threatens crop growth and human health. Intensively studies of the distribution characteristics and source of soil heavy metals around some typical mines are very crucial for environmental management and green development of mine. A total of eighty-nine soil samples, twenty-one sediment samples, five waste rock samples and two tailing sand samples were sampled to investigate copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr) and mercury (Hg) in soil, sediment, waste rocks and tailings sand around Dexing Copper Mine, Jiangxi Province, China. The concentrations of the seven heavy metals were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry ICP-MS/atomic fluorescence spectroscopy (AFS). The Igeo values of soil heavy metal showed that 100% of Cu were at an unpolluted-to-moderately-polluted level (Igeo > 0), more than 50% of Cu were heavily polluted (Igeo > 3), 65.16%, and 22.47%, 7.86% and 7.87% of the soil samples for Cd, Hg, As and Zn were overly moderately polluted (Igeo > 1). A total of 13.48% and 11.24% of the soil samples for Pb and Cr, respectively, were moderately polluted (1 geo and RSVCAL, the soils around Dexing Copper Mine were polluted by heavy metals to some extent, with especially the Cu pollution of soil being the most serious. These heavy metal concentrations exceeding RSVCAL have threatened the safety of agricultural products. The results of soil profile analysis, principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) indicated that the mining activities of Dexing copper mine should be the main source of Cu in the soil. High As concentration in soil obviously caused by the copper mine as well. In addition, Dexing Copper Mine should partly account for soil pollution by Zn, Pb, Cd, Hg and Cr around the mine