Trace and Heavy Metal Contamination Status of Soil and Water in Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining Vicinity in Kuchiko-Hausa, Gurara LGA, Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

Mining activities have long been recognized as a major source of environmental contamination associated with heavy metals. In this study, ten (10) trace metals namely As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn were analysed from water (stream, river and borehole) and soil (surface and sub-soil) samples collected from around the artisanal and small scale gold mining site within the vicinity in Kuchiko-Hausa, Gurara LGA, Niger State, Nigeria using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. The result from the water and soil samples showed the while all the investigated trace metals were absent from all the water samples, Hg was only found with concentration of 0.006 and 0.0053 mg/mL for the stream and river water samples, the soil samples showed the presence of all the trace metals except Cd and Co with As and Cr found only in the surface soil. All detected trace metals in the samples were all lower than the WHO permissible limits. Periodic and systematic study of the investigated and other metals concentrations is therefore recommended since long-term exposure of these metals poses significant health risk for human, animals and plants.