To investigate potential health risks associated with exposure to metals from an abandoned metal mine, the authors studied people living near an abandoned mine (n=102) and control groups (n=149). Levels of cadmium, copper, arsenic, lead, and zinc were measured in the air, soil, drinking water, and agricultural products. To assess individual exposure, biomarkers of each metal in blood and urine ...

Biological nitrogen fixing is an important source of nitrogen input in the natural ecological restoration of mine wastelands. The diversity of nifH genes in tailings samples under different plant communities in Yangshanchong and Tongguanshan wastelands in Tongling, was analyzed using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) approach. The nitrogen-fixing micro...

Sedimentary Copper mineralization has been observed in Monj and Jolany locations in Bavanat (Sanandaj – Sirjan metamorphic belt). According to current study, the host rocks for copper mineralization in this area are green sandstones, generally in subarkose and arkose groups. Age of these sandstones is middle Jurassic. Copper mineralization is observed in two forms, sulfides form including chalc...

We report the draft genome of the Peptococcaceae strain CEB3 that originated from an acidic (pH 2.5) stream draining an abandoned copper mine. Strain CEB3 is one of the very few reported acidophilic sulfate-reducing isolates. The 5.04-Mb draft genome harbors 5,069 predicted protein-encoding and 66 RNA genes.

Two strains of Rhodotorula and one of Trichosporon precipitated dissolved copper with H(2)S formed by reducing elemental sulfur with glucose. Iron stimulated this activity under certain conditions. In the case of Rhodotorula strain L, iron stimulated copper precipitation aerobically at a copper concentration of 18 but not 180 mug/ml. Anaerobically, the L strain required iron for precipitation o...

An integrated approach including chemical speciation analyses and microalgal bioassays was used to assess the impact of copper from copper mining on a coastal area in Northern Chile. Dissolved copper ranged from <1 microg l(-1) at reference sites to 48 microgl(-1) at sites close to the mine discharge. Dissolved copper at sites closest to the discharge always exceeded seawater complexing capacit...

Extremely acidophilic iron-oxidizing Gram-positive bacteria comprise species within the phyla Firmicutes and Actinobacteria. Here, we report the 4.02-Mb draft genome of Acidithrix ferrooxidans Py-F3, which was isolated from a stream draining an abandoned copper mine and proposed as the type species of a new genus of Actinobacteria.