Metallurgical organic pollutants assisted source apportionment of mobile heavy metals on artisanal non-ferrous metal...

Artisanal and small-scale mining and processing (ASMP) remain pervasive in developing countries, causing severe heavy metal(loids) (HMs) pollution and complicating source apportionment. Current understanding remains limited regarding the distribution of metallurgical organic pollutants (MOPs) and their potential role in HM source apportionment. In this study, representative MOPs, xanthates and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), were selected and analyzed in an abandoned non-ferrous tailings pond within Guizhou's mercury mining areas, China. It presents the first quantitation of three flotation xanthates (ethyl-, isopropyl-, and butyl-xanthate) in tailings, with detected concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 89.2 μg/kg. PAH concentrations reached up to 234.3 μg/kg and exhibited diagnostic smelting signatures. Spatial mapping and positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis revealed that Cd/Zn contamination primarily originated from zinc beneficiation, whereas Hg contamination originated from two distinct mercury smelting periods. Advanced PMF analysis incorporating MOP profiles and hydrogeochemical indicators showed that non-ferrous processing contributed 15.1-100 % of mobile HMs. However, 39.3 % of mobile Hg and 31.0 % of mobile Cd were redistributed via hydrogeochemical interactions, and 53.9 % of mobile Cd was regulated by xanthate complexation during aging. This field-based validation proposes a novel MOPs-based framework to aid HM source apportionment and support future environmental enforcement at ASMP sites.