Environmental Mineralogy Applied To Areas Contaminated By Sulphide Ore Processing in Northern Finland, Northern Norway and Adjoining Parts of the Kola Peninsula, Russia.

The largest, and potentially most dangerous area of environmental pollution (with the exception of Tschernobyl) in Europe is situated in the northern Kola Peninsula, Russia, near the Norwegian and Finnish borders. Nickel smelling and roasting plants using obsolete technology, emit more than 300.000 tons of sulfur dioxide, and hundreds of tons of metallic nickel and copper per annum. This has resumed in an industrial desert surrounding the processing plants, and in heavy contamination over a vast area. - One important, and often neglected question in heavy metals contamination of soils is the mineralogical association of the heavy metals - do they reside in oxides, sulfides, alloys, silicates, phosphates, carbonates or are they adsorbed onto organic matter This question has, so far, only been addressed in the Sudbury area of Ontario, Canada, where a cleanup of emissions and a comprehensive study of contaminated soils was initiated in the 1980ies. It is the aim of the proposed project to perform mineralogical investigations, including reflected light microscopy and microprobe analysis of particulate matter from the contaminated area of the Kola Peninsula. This will be done in cooperation with the Kola project, an international effort jointly carried out by the Geological Surveys of Norway (NGU), Finland (GTK) and the Kola Geological Expedition (Russia). The Institute of Geosciences at Leoben has almost 20 years experience in the microscopy and microprobe analysis of fine-grained particulate matter including ores of base and precious metals, flotation concentrates and soil samples. On this basis, the applicant has been offered the possibility of cooperation by the Geological Survey of Norway. The general significance of the project has been underlined during the recent visit of the Russian President, Boris Yelcsin, to Norway. In his discussions with the Norwegian Prime Minister, Gro Brundtland, questions of security and the environment have been the dominant topics. In this context, Norway has offered Russia help in the investigation, and possible amelioration of environmental pollution in the Kola area. The proposed project is intended to contribute to this international effort.

ORIGINAL AIMS The project was intended to investigate speciation and distribution of particulate matter emitted from the Russian nickel industry in the Kola-Peninsula on the basis of snow and soil samples. This required separation, and concentration, of particles in the 5 - 100 m grainsize range. Preparation of polished sections was followed by microscopic characterisation and microprobe analysis of the respective particles in an attempt to link these to original sources of emissions. In addition, these results were correlated with geochemical data produced by project partners within the International Kola Project. Environmental research has so far neglected mineralogical aspects and emphasised chemical data almost exclusively. This was surprising as all elements including those which are considered potentially toxic or dangerous, occur as integral constituents of mineral phases. Identification and analysis of these minerals is a prerequisite for our understanding of environmental evolution. It was fortunate that our investigations formed part of the International Kola Project; these had been executed in co-oporation with the Geological Surveys of Norway (NGU), Finland (GTK) and by the Russian Kola Expedition, which is a constituent part of the Russian Geological Survey responsible for the Kola Peninsula and, in their final stages, of the follow-up international Barents Project. Project partners in the above organisations were also concerned with geochemical analyses of soils, lake and river water, sedimentes, parts of the vegetation (especially moss and lichen), as well as snow. A vast spectrum of comparative links and constructive co-operation has thus emerged. The Kola Peninsula with the nickel mines, and the processing and smelting installations of Monchegorsk, Zapoljarnij and Nikel is one of the major centres of sulphur and metal emissions world-wide and occupies the first place in Europe. This is largely due to the fact that nickel production and processing in the study area uses equipment which has not been significantly modified or modernised during the past 50 years. Lack of funds has impeded responsible environmental management. The International Kola Project has received additional support and impetus by government level Russian-Norwegian negotiations when President Yeltsin visited Oslo in 1996; intensified co-operation in environmental matters was then agreed upon, with special emphasis on the Kola Peninsula. IMPORTANT METHODICAL ASPECTS Co-ordination of snow and soil sampling, high-quality preparation and careful microscopy, mainly in reflected light, and largely in oil immersion, as well as scanning electron microscopy and microprobe analysis constituted the methodological framework of the project.. Sampling was performed in co-operation with Russian and Finnish colleagues. Snow samples were taken in late winter on sample localities exactly defined by GPS (Global Positioning System). Localities were so distributed as to obtain an overview of the degrees of emission intensity with increasing distance from the main emitters. In addition, the mineralogy and chemical composition of particulate matter was to be checked within this context. Soil samples were then taken in summer on exactly the same locations, again determined by GPS, by the Leoben team in co-operation with Russian and Norwegian colleagues. Snow samples were kept in frozen condition until melting in the laboratory; the melt water was then separated and analysed; the filtrates were sent to Leoben for further preparation and investigation. Soil samples collected during the summer season were processed in Leoben. After separation of the organic components the minerals present were separated into a magnetic and a non-magnetic fraction. The filtrates of snow samples and the mineral concentrates of the soil samples have then been embedded in araldite and polished on metal laps with diamond pastes. It has thus been possible to produce high-quality polished sections from the extremely fine-grained filtrates (5-50 micron) of the snow samples. Some sections contained up to 1.200 individual grains. The same procedure was applied to the (magnetic and non-magnetic) mineral concentrates from soil samples. All the above investigative steps are innovative and have not previously been described in the literature. Of particular interest was the fact that fine-grained filtrates of melt water facilitate the preparation of polished sections in which a large number of anthropogenic and geogenic phases can be identified both microscopically and analytically. INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION From the start, the project was conceived as an integral component of the International Kola Project. There was intensive co-operation and lively exchange of data and concepts with the above mentioned institutions. The Leoben team spent three weeks in the Kola Peninsula to take the soil samples in co-operation with Russian and Norwegian colleagues; during the entire duration of the project, there was regular contact with, and advise from the project management at the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU) in Trondheim. The Project Leader, Doz.Dr. C. Reimann, visited Leoben several times to discuss relevant matters with the project partners. In co-operation with the University of Giessen, Germany (Prof. Haack), lead isotope studies have been performed on samples from the Kola project and from its successor, the International Barents Project. The latter covers a larger area comprising 1.2 million square kilometres extending to St. Petersburg in the South and to the Urals in the East. Lead isotope distribution in soil samples reveals distinct links to bedrock composition; moss and lichen, however, show lead isotope ratios which correspond to "Standard European Lead". They are not influenced by local or regional industrial activities, nor by bedrock composition. This appears to be a remarkable example of atmospheric transport and uptake by vegetation. POSITIONING OF THE SUBJECT MATTER IN THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT It is no exaggeration to say that the International Kola Project was the most comprehensive, best co-ordinated interdisciplinary environmental geochemistry -mineralogy project conducted world-wide so far. For the first time it was possible to study the particulate matter which other projects have looked at in the "raw state" only i.e. not concentrated or polished, of a large metal industry and to investigate them under the microscope and by microprobe. The co-ordination with geochemical investigations in Norway and Finland was of particular relevance. It thus became possible to characterise the mineralogical and chemical parameters to such an extent that emissions (particulate matter) from the palladium and platinum-rich ore of the large Siberian deposits of Norilsk, which are processed in Monchegorsk, have been distinguished from the palladium-platinum-poor deposits of the northern Kola Peninsula. Correlation of mineralogical observations (discrete platinum group element phases) and analytical data was thus greatly facilitated. A surprising result was the fact that pollution of snow and soil by emissions from the nickel industry was high in the immediate environment of the respective emitters; after a few kilometres, however, the intensity of pollution decreased and soon merged with the original background. It was thus not possible to provide quantitative proof for long distance transport of particulate matter. The important role of mineralogy in environmental research was clearly demonstrated. Toxicity of soil and water is not simply caused by the presence of certain elements. It is the mode of accommodation of these elements in mineral phases which determines their reactivity. A simple example is the oxide cover layer which forms around easily disintegrating sulphide particles and protects them from further decay. Such particles can survive for considerable time in soils without realising their heavy metal potential. Mineralogical investigations must form part of any assessment of environmental damage. It does not suffice to report that soils in a certain area carry 400 ppm nickel, but we also have to ask in which mineral phases these nickel contents are accommodated. Are they perhaps protected by oxide coatings and thus prevented from releasing heavy metals into the soil/water system ? The investigative strategy used in the Kola project has proved particularly useful as it was possible to combine experience and know-how from geological and biological sciences accumulated by scientist from four countries. UNEXPECTED RESULTS 5.1. Filtrates from snow melt water carry a wide, and diagnostically significant spectrum of minerals and anthropogenic phases. They represent atmospheric deposition during one sub-Arctic winter. 5.2. Emission products from melt water filtrates and soil samples have been correlated not only with certain sources of emission, but beyond that with ore deposits from which the processing plants receive their raw material. 5.3. No evidence for long-range transport of particulate matter from industrial emitters has been obtained. Background values of heavy metal contents are reached within 5-10 km from the source. 5.4. Lead isotope distribution patterns in soils, moss and lichen from the Kola and the (larger) Barents area reveal that the above plants receive their lead entirely by atmospheric input and not from their subsoil. Atmospheric input is identical to "Standard European Lead". The reasons for the de-coupling of soil and plant systems remain to be investigated.