Investigating the Impacts of Artisanal and Small Scale Mining on Surface and Groundwater Quality in Madaka area of Niger State using Water Pollution Indices

Abstract

The mining sector is an important contributor of Nigerian's foreign exchange and employer of labour. Artisanal and small-scale mining is a means of livelihood adopted primarily by people in rural areas with crude and uncivilized mining technique. The physical parameters were determined on site using the appropriate techniques while the chemical analysis was carried out using inductive coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer (ICPOES) model-optima 200. The observed wide range and deviation in the following water quality parameter: total dissolved solid (44.0-1123.0), electrical conductivity (35.0-1696.0), pH (5.54-10.60), iron (0.1-95.6), zinc (0.03-6.14), copper (0.03-3.13), chromium (0.02-0.36), manganese (0.06-1.36) and lead (0.0-11.0) are signatures that the water sources in the area have deteriorated. The result of water quality index indicates that the water is polluted and unsuitable for domestic use while metal pollution index revealed that the water is lightly to very highly polluted. The study attributed the poor condition of the water sources in the area to long term environmental abuse in the area arising from artisanal and illegal mining. The practice of bringing rock boulders from site to the house for crushing, milling and processing with the same equipment used in grinding and processing of foodstuff should stop immediately. The use of mining buckets to fetch water directly from surface water and hand-dug well should discontinue. Regulatory agencies should ensure that global minimum mining standard is maintained in every mining site in Nigeria.