**Author details**

It is evident from the present study that the abandoned gold mine tailings site is

*Geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and pollution load index (PLI) at various sampling station at the Blesbokspruit*

**Station no. Cr As Pb Co Ni Cd Zn PLI Description of PLI** 1.85 2.34 1.43 0.00 1.05 3.02 3.51 2.72 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.41 0.06 1.09 2.97 3.51 2.63 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.41 0.04 1.05 2.89 3.51 2.61 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.43 0.01 1.11 2.87 3.51 2.56 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.40 0.04 1.14 2.77 3.22 2.67 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.40 0.03 1.11 2.91 3.51 2.67 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.42 0.01 1.08 2.81 3.22 2.64 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.41 0.02 1.05 2.87 3.51 2.68 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.42 0.04 1.02 3.00 3.51 2.63 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.43 0.02 1.08 2.94 3.22 2.68 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.41 0.04 1.08 2.76 3.22 2.66 Polluted 1.85 2.33 1.41 0.02 1.14 2.96 3.22 2.65 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.43 0.01 1.14 2.91 3.22 2.73 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.41 0.01 1.05 3.01 3.51 2.71 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.41 0.02 1.08 2.91 3.22 2.67 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.43 0.02 1.11 2.94 3.22 2.75 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.42 0.04 1.14 2.89 3.51 2.57 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.43 0.04 1.05 2.88 3.51 2.69 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.42 0.01 1.08 2.94 3.51 2.68 Polluted 1.85 2.34 1.43 0.00 1.05 2.97 3.51 2.71 Polluted

*Trace Metals in the Environment - New Approaches and Recent Advances*

The successful assessment of trace metal contamination of the abandoned gold

not polluted with Zn and Cu, but heavily polluted with Cd, Cr and Pb when evaluated by comparison with the sediment quality guideline proposed by USEPA.

mine tailings at Blesbokspruit-Ekurhuleni was done using indices such as geoaccumulation index, contamination factor, and degree of contamination and pollution load index. The sediment was mostly dominated by fine sand and silt/clay. Based on sediment quality guidelines proposed by the USEPA, the contamination of the sediment by Zn and Cu was negligible while Cd, Cr and Pb were detected at high concentrations. The evaluated pollution load index indicated that the sediments in the tailings dump are polluted while the geoaccumulation index revealed that Cr, Pb, and As contaminated the site, thus indicating very high degrees of contamination of the sediments at the mine dump. The high metal contaminants could be attributed to anthropogenic activities from previous extensive gold mining activities that took place within the area. Considering agricultural activities and human dwellers within the surrounding areas of the mine tailings, there are high tendencies of deleterious impacts. As a further precaution, this study strongly supports the call for analysis of the stream and drinking water quality, including the

**5. Conclusion**

**94**

*abandoned gold mine tailings site.*

**Table 10.**

Godwin Okereafor<sup>1</sup> \*, Mamookho Makhatha<sup>1</sup> , Lukhanyo Mekuto<sup>2</sup> and Vuyo Mavumengwana<sup>3</sup>

1 Department of Metallurgy, School of Mining, Metallurgy and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

3 Department of Biotechnology and Food Technology, Faculty of Science, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

\*Address all correspondence to: guokereafor@gmail.com

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
