IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i18p7989-d1476934.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Hydrochemical Characteristics, Controlling Factors and Groundwater Sources of Zaozigou Gold Mine

Author

Listed:
  • Wenqiang Jiang

    (Department of Geology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650032, China)

  • Baozhu Li

    (Department of Geology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650032, China)

  • Zhen Zhang

    (The Third Geological and Mineral Exploration Institute of Gansu Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Lanzhou 730050, China)

  • Ying Zhang

    (The Third Geological and Mineral Exploration Institute of Gansu Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Lanzhou 730050, China)

Abstract

The Zaozigou gold deposit is recognized as one of the largest and most significant independent gold deposits in northwest China, representing a colossal orogenic gold-antimony deposit. It is imperative to delve into the hydrochemical characteristics and controlling factors within the mining area to unveil the groundwater circulation evolution process and enhance water resource management. In 2018, a comprehensive collection of 50 groups of groundwater samples was conducted, alongside 17 groups of surface water and underground mine water samples in 2023. Compositional descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, Piper three-plot, Gibbs map, ion ratio method, hydrogeochemical simulation and PCA methods were employed to reveal the chemical characteristics and evolution process of groundwater in the Zaozigou gold mine. Furthermore, employing water isotopes theory allowed for the identification of recharge sources and circulation conditions within the Zaozigou Gold Mine. The findings indicated a transition from HCO 3 -Na·Ca type polluted water in 2018 to primarily the SO 4 -Ca·Mg type and HCO 3 ·SO 4 -Na·Ca·Mg type groundwater hydrochemistry types by 2023. The hydrochemical characteristics of the study area are closely related to the mining depth and time. The chemical characteristics are influenced by various factors such as rock weathering, mineral dissolution, cation exchange processes, atmospheric precipitation as well as human activities related to pollution from industrial mining activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Wenqiang Jiang & Baozhu Li & Zhen Zhang & Ying Zhang, 2024. "Hydrochemical Characteristics, Controlling Factors and Groundwater Sources of Zaozigou Gold Mine," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-19, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:18:p:7989-:d:1476934
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/7989/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/7989/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jaivime Evaristo & Scott Jasechko & Jeffrey J. McDonnell, 2015. "Global separation of plant transpiration from groundwater and streamflow," Nature, Nature, vol. 525(7567), pages 91-94, September.
    2. Junju Zhou & Juan Xiang & Lanying Wang & Guoshuang Zhong & Guofeng Zhu & Chunfang Liu & Meihua Huang & Wei Feng & Qiaoqiao Li & Dongxiang Xue & Yaru Zhao & Li Lei, 2019. "The Impacts of Groundwater Chemistry on Wetland Vegetation Distribution in the Northern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-15, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dang, Hongzhong & Han, Hui & Chen, Shuai & Li, Mingyang, 2021. "A fragile soil moisture environment exacerbates the climate change-related impacts on the water use by Mongolian Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) in northern China: Long-term observations," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    2. Changming Cao & Na Li & Weifeng Yue & Lijun Wu & Xinyi Cao & Yuanzheng Zhai, 2022. "Analysis of the Interaction between Lake and Groundwater Based on Water–Salt Balance Method and Stable Isotopic Characteristics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-16, September.
    3. Rong Leng & Quanzhi Yuan & Yushuang Wang & Qian Kuang & Ping Ren, 2020. "Carbon Balance of Grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau under Future Climate Change: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-21, January.
    4. Catherine E. Finkenbiner & Stephen P. Good & J. Renée Brooks & Scott T. Allen & Salini Sasidharan, 2022. "The extent to which soil hydraulics can explain ecohydrological separation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    5. Jiaxin Wang & Mingjun Zhang & Athanassios A. Argiriou & Shengjie Wang & Deye Qu & Yu Zhang & Pengyan Su, 2021. "Recharge and Infiltration Mechanisms of Soil Water in the Floodplain Revealed by Water-Stable Isotopes in the Upper Yellow River," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-18, August.
    6. Chen, Zhixue & Wang, Guohui & Yang, Xianlong & Li, Zhenfeng & Shen, Yuying, 2023. "Water competition among the coexisting Platycladus orientalis, Prunus davidiana and Medicago sativa in a semi-arid agroforestry system," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    7. Md. Mizanur Rahman & Faisal AlThobiani & Shamsuddin Shahid & Salvatore Gonario Pasquale Virdis & Mohammad Kamruzzaman & Hafijur Rahaman & Md. Abdul Momin & Md. Belal Hossain & Emad Ismat Ghandourah, 2022. "GIS and Remote Sensing-Based Multi-Criteria Analysis for Delineation of Groundwater Potential Zones: A Case Study for Industrial Zones in Bangladesh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-25, May.
    8. Zhang, Zhongdian & Huang, Mingbin, 2021. "Effect of root-zone vertical soil moisture heterogeneity on water transport safety in soil-plant-atmosphere continuum in Robinia pseudoacacia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:18:p:7989-:d:1476934. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.