Environmental Impact of Abandoned Mine Waste

Book excerpt: Since the dawn of civilisation until the last decades of the past century, mining activity, especially that concerning base and precious metals, represented a resource for human population, owing to its importance in many fields of interest. By the second half of the last century, however, mining activity declined until final closure in the face of developing countries, owing to decreasing mineral resources and to metal price drop. In this book, the effects of former mine activities and the related environmental problems are discussed, with the ultimate goal of investigating the fate of potentially toxic elements in the environment and their impact on the conterminous land.