How deep and how far can pollution migrate from abandoned mining areas? Insights from the application of magnetic and electromagnetic methods

• Applicant: Dr. Katarzyna Dudzisz
• Subject Area: Geophysics ; Soil Sciences
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 560388603

Mining activities have been known since ancient times in human history, providing precious metals, coal, minerals, and rocks of economic and industrial use, as well as building materials. Despite many positive effects on humanity, mining has one of the most harmful impacts on the environment. The problem of environmental pollution caused by mining in many cases deals with the accumulation effect of decades or even centuries of activities at certain places. This research project aims to establish magnetic parameters to control changes in the spread of pollution in soils around mining wastes that were forsaken for years after mining closure. It will be done by comparing four historic mining sites in Poland (Miedzianka and Miedziana Góra) and Germany (Harz: Rammelsberg and St. Andreasberg), situated in different climate and topographic conditions. The project focuses on the distribution of heavy metals (HM) that leach from tailings or heaps into nearby environments. It is well-known that many major pollution sources, such as power plants, smelters, and mining operations, also release iron-containing magnetic minerals like magnetite and maghemite along with harmful heavy metals. Therefore, this project introduces a new, interdisciplinary approach to studying the vertical and horizontal distribution of heavy metals linked to magnetic particles. Two complementary methods will be used: anisotropy of ferromagnetic susceptibility, which shows the preferred orientation of magnetic grains and the direction of heavy metal movement, and the ground conductivity (GCM-EM) method, which measures water's ability to conduct electrical current via dissolved ions, including heavy metals. The study will involve in-situ measurements of magnetic susceptibility, vertical magnetic field gradient, and conductivity, as well as detailed soil sampling for anisotropy analysis. The content of HMs will be estimated by magnetic parameters proportional to the concentration of magnetic particles that are associated with HMs. Standard geochemical and statistical analyses will support these methods. The project aims to identify the pathways and sinks of contaminant dispersion, following the classical source-pathway-receptor model. The spatial distribution of HMs pollution is highly case-dependent and influenced by various factors, thus local topography, climate and meteorological conditions, soil type and vegetation cover as well as human activities will be carefully reviewed in the project. Moreover, the project contributes to extending the knowledge about anthropogenic soil formation processes and migration of metal pollution, as well as developing a new tool for contamination tracking. It also allows estimating the potential impact on the environment of the historical mine waste.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Poland, United Kingdom
• Co-Investigators: Professorin Dr. Kirsten Drüppel; Privatdozentin Dr. Elisabeth Eiche; Professorin Dr. Agnes Kontny
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Richard John Harrison; Dr.-Ing. Szymon Orynski