Contamination and Soil Biological Properties in the Serra Pelada Mine - Amazonia, Brazil

ABSTRACT Discovered in 1980 and unleashed an utter gold rush of the modern era, Serra Pelada was the largest open-air mine in Brazil. About 80,000 gold prospectors worked there until 1984, when the gold pits were flooded. The environmental impact caused by mining inflicted irreversible damage to the ecosystem, with the formation of a large lake and piles of waste rock and sterile overburden, still evident 28 years after the mine was closed. This study aimed to evaluate the available and pseudo total contents of potentially toxic elements (PTEs), the contamination and pollution levels, and to u...