Preliminary Investigation of Trace Elements in Acid Mine Drainage from Odagbo Coal Mine, Northcentral, Nigeria

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the concentration of trace elements in acid mine drainage (AMD) from Odagbo coal mine. Composite AMD samples were collected from active and abandoned mining pits and were analysed for lead, nickel, cobalt, chromium, mercury, zinc, arsenic and iron using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). Comparisons were made between the trace elements and environmentally acceptable quality standard (EQS) for heavy metal discharges from mines using student’s t-test. The mean concentrations of these elements were lead (0.10 mg/l), nickel (0.49 mg/l), cobalt (0.88 mg/l), chromium (0.55 mg/l), cadmium (0.19 mg/l), arsenic (0.01 mg/l) and iron (5.80 mg/l). There were significant differences between the means of lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic and EQS for heavy metal discharges from mines (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences between the means of nickel, chromium, iron and EQS for heavy metal discharges from mines (P > 0.05). Cobalt, iron, nickel and chromium were the dominant trace elements in the AMD. Further studies are required to determine the influence of AMD on surface water and soils around the mine. Keywords: Acid mine drainage, trace elements, coal, mine, sulphide minerals,