MINING CAUSED POLLUTION OF THE NATURAL LANDSCAPE

Abstract

The results of the negative impact of mining and metallurgical production on the natural
environment are presented in the article. The objective of the study was to evaluate the performance of the
heavy metal speciation in sediments to assess the potential ecological risk associated with anthropogenic
waste deposits. An analysis of the factors of the negative impact of the extraction and processing of
geomaterials on the components of the natural environment was made in the course of the research. The work
reveals a fragmented degradation of the landscape under the influence of the actual production and surface
infrastructure of the mining and metallurgical complex. It is shown that the violation of the required sanitarytechnical and environmental requirements for the disposal of mining and metallurgical waste leads to
dangerous pollution and deformation of the components of the natural environment. Whereas, the long-term
functioning of the deformed natural and anthropogenic system leads to unpredictable hazardous
consequences, manifested in the development of little-known diseases of the population that lives in the zone
of activity of such objects. It is shown that the environmental hazard of a natural and industrial system in
mountainous terrain, in comparison with similar flat systems, increases significantly, which implies that
additional measures are needed to ensure environmental safety. Moreover, the characteristics of the waste
landfills for ore and concentrates processing as well as other materials are given in the paper.