Assessment of Soil Pollution by Metallic Trace Elements (MTE): Case of Environment of Ruashi Mining/Haut-Katanga (DR Congo)

Abstract

The main objective of this research was to assess the level of soil contamination of Ruashi Mining sites and its surroundings by metallic trace elements. The samples of the soils studied were taken during the month of June 2020. The clod of earth was taken at a depth of 20 cm and 40 cm by a manual auger and was packed in a plastic bag before the analyzes in the laboratory. After drying, they were ground and then sieved to 2 mm mesh. The Cd, Cr, Co, Cu and Zn were determined by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF). The results showed that all the soils of the Ruashi sites were amply contaminated by Co, the soils of Ruashi 1 and 3 are contaminated with Cr while the soils of theR uashi 4 are contaminated with Cu. The study of the pollution index revealed that the soils of the Ruashi have multiple contamination because the PI is greater than 1 except for the soils of the Ruashi 4 whose PI value is 0.97. Hence it is imperative to protect the ecosystems surrounding the mining sites of the Ruashi.