| Summary: |
The North of Portugal is particularly rich in metallic and non-metallic mineral resources, whose exploitation dates back to the 19th century. The high-volume of mining wastes resulting from the exploration and processing of the ores that have been deposited in tailings close to the mines, in most cases without any recovery or maintenance. It is well documented that improper mining waste disposal will result in air, soil, and water pollution. This environmental legacy, and the contamination caused by the mining waste disposal, is far from being properly assessed, namely the impact on the soils and groundwater of the surrounding areas. Furthermore, in the North of Portugal, the traditional and subsistence-like based agriculture is common, and the soils and groundwater are used without any knowledge about the risk management approach to the potential contamination caused by the mining waste disposal.
In this framework, a project entitled Soil health surrounding former mining areas: characterization, risk analysis, and intervention is proposed within the Mission Area "Soil Health & Food", taking advantage of the longtime expertise of a consortium composed by five R&D Institutions from different and complementary areas, namely: Earth Sciences (ICT and CERENA), Chemistry (CIQUP), Sociology (IS-UP) and Art, Design and Society (i2ADS).
This project will allow the assessment of the hydropedological impacts associated with mining and industrialization, and their contribute to the mitigation and/or remediation of these impacts, promoting soil protection and health. For this purpose, former areas where coal, Sb-Au and W mines operated, and where mining processing residues were deposited nearby, were selected.
The methodologies for remote detection and geostatistical analysis of the results will allow the development of observation and data collection systems that will lead to the development of models and applications, in a GIS environment, for the temporal a  |
Summary
The North of Portugal is particularly rich in metallic and non-metallic mineral resources, whose exploitation dates back to the 19th century. The high-volume of mining wastes resulting from the exploration and processing of the ores that have been deposited in tailings close to the mines, in most cases without any recovery or maintenance. It is well documented that improper mining waste disposal will result in air, soil, and water pollution. This environmental legacy, and the contamination caused by the mining waste disposal, is far from being properly assessed, namely the impact on the soils and groundwater of the surrounding areas. Furthermore, in the North of Portugal, the traditional and subsistence-like based agriculture is common, and the soils and groundwater are used without any knowledge about the risk management approach to the potential contamination caused by the mining waste disposal.
In this framework, a project entitled Soil health surrounding former mining areas: characterization, risk analysis, and intervention is proposed within the Mission Area "Soil Health & Food", taking advantage of the longtime expertise of a consortium composed by five R&D Institutions from different and complementary areas, namely: Earth Sciences (ICT and CERENA), Chemistry (CIQUP), Sociology (IS-UP) and Art, Design and Society (i2ADS).
This project will allow the assessment of the hydropedological impacts associated with mining and industrialization, and their contribute to the mitigation and/or remediation of these impacts, promoting soil protection and health. For this purpose, former areas where coal, Sb-Au and W mines operated, and where mining processing residues were deposited nearby, were selected.
The methodologies for remote detection and geostatistical analysis of the results will allow the development of observation and data collection systems that will lead to the development of models and applications, in a GIS environment, for the temporal and spatial monitoring of the soils under study. In the studied sites, in addition to the characterization, an environmental risk analysis will be carried out, and the most appropriate intervention techniques will be inventoried. During the project, awareness actions will be carried out with the population of the studied areas in order to understand the sociological impact associated with the exploitation of geological resources and the population hazard and risk perception. An artistic engagement and dialogue with local communities/researchers will be accomplished. |