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An Investigation of Concentrations of Copper, Cobalt and Cadmium Minerals in Soils and Mango Fruits Growing on Konkola Copper Mine Tailings Dam in Chingola, Zambia

Kayika P, Siachoono SM, Kalinda C and Kwenye JM

There is a growing potential public health risk over the consumption of food crops growing on the mining waste disposal sites on the Copperbelt in Zambia. Accumulation of heavy metals in soils may lead to raised heavy metal concentration in fruits that are growing on such mine tailings dams. A study was conducted to determine the concentration of selected heavy metals, namely Copper (Cu), Cobalt (Co) and Cadmium (Cd) in both the mango fruits and soil samples collected from three levels of the Konkola Copper Mine (KCM) tailings dam. Heavy metal determination was done using the Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) at the Copperbelt University School of Mines laboratory.

The results obtained showed that the concentration of Copper (Cu) was significantly high in both the soil samples and the fruits. No significance differences were observed in the concentration of Cobalt (Co) and Cadmium (Cd) in the soil and fruit samples.

This study highlights the fact that copper accumulates more in the soils samples and fruits compared to cobalt and cadmium. This may increase the health risks that are associated with heavy metal contamination especially among the urban population who consume these fruits. Therefore, there is need to develop an environmental monitoring protocol for tailings dam because of the effects heavy metals may have on the environment.