Revegetation and Ecotoxicological Assessment of Abandoned Copper Mine for improved Remediation Utilizing Native Plant Species

Book excerpt: When mining activities cease, its environmental impact continues as a consequence of which all the adjacent vegetation, soils, groundwater, etc. are exposed to a very high concentration of heavy metals. The toxic heavy metals present in the tailings or ‘spoils’ of abandoned mines migrate to the surroundings and cause severe and widespread contamination of farmland soils and water bodies leading to the onset of geo-environment disasters. One such example is a recent one in Brazil that released 60 million cubic meters of mine waste due to iron-ore dam burst according to The Guardian daily dated 28 November 2015.