Assessment of chemical fractionations and mobilization potentials for heavy metals in wastes and other solid matrices in a mining site in the inland Aegean Region in Turkey

The natural soil, processing products, and wastes generated in a colemanite mining site were studied according to their mineral structures, contents of As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Mn, Zn, Al, and Fe. The possible sources, chemical distributions, and the mobilization behaviors of the metals and the correlations between the metal mobilization ratios and their chemical partitioning were also examined and evaluated. The mineralogical composition of the materials was determined, and the correlations between the mineralogical sources of the determined metals with each other were investigated by using principal component analysis. The results showed that mica and smectite were considered to be the source of Cr, Cu, Ni, and Zn, and As was found in the mineral structure of the colemanite. On the other hand, the distributions of the metals in the binding forms indicated that Cr, Ni, Zn, Al, and Fe were mostly bound on the residual fraction, while Cu, Mn, and As were distributed in labile forms. Arsenic was recognized as the most mobile element with 10.37% mobility. Fe mobilization was originated from exchangeable fraction, where As mobilization was significantly correlated with its reducible and organic fractions.