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Impact of tailings from the Kilembe copper mining district on Lake George, Uganda

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

The abandoned Kilembe copper mine in western Uganda is a source of contaminants, mobilised from mine tailings into R. Rukoki flowing through a belt of wetlands into Lake George. Water and sediments were investigated on the lakeshore and the lakebed. Metal associations in the sediments reflect the Kilembe sulphide mineralisation. Enrichment of metals was compared between lakebed sediments, both for wet and dry seasons. Total C in a lakebed core shows a general increment, while Cu and Co decrease with depth. The contaminants are predominant (> 65%) in the ≤ 63 μm sediment size range with elevated Cu and Zn (> 28%), while Ni, Pb and Co are low (< 18%) in all the fractions. Sequential extraction of Fe for lakeshore sediment samples reveals low Fe mobility. Relatively higher mobility and biological availability is seen for Co, Cu and S. Heavy metal contents in lake waters are not an immediate risk to the aquatic environment.

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Acknowledgements

This research has been funded by the Volkswagen Foundation (Hanover, Germany). The International Foundation of Science (IFS) is acknowledged for providing equipment, literature and for sponsoring a science conference trip to Malaysia (MO). Queen Elizabeth National Park, Mweya kindly helped with a speedboat on the lake. We do acknowledge all the data and oral communications from J. Russell and D. Schnurrenberger. We also wish to thank the reviewers and editors for their contributions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda

    Michael Owor & Andrew Muwanga

  2. Institute of Environmental Geology, Technical University, P.O. Box 3329, 38023, Braunschweig, Germany

    Tina Hartwig, Dieter Zachmann & Walter Pohl

Authors
  1. Michael Owor
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  2. Tina Hartwig
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  3. Andrew Muwanga
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  4. Dieter Zachmann
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  5. Walter Pohl
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Correspondence to Michael Owor.

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Owor, M., Hartwig, T., Muwanga, A. et al. Impact of tailings from the Kilembe copper mining district on Lake George, Uganda. Environ Geol 51, 1065–1075 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0398-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0398-7

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