Monitoring of the abandoned mine Smolnik (Slovakia) influence on the aquatic environment

Abstract

Abstract The Slovak Republic has a rich mining history. Despite of the decrease of mine activities in Slovak regions, there are still the abandoned sites that can cause environmental risks due to a generation of the acid mine drainages. These waters contain many toxic pollutants, mainly heavy metals and sulphates, which have negative impact on the environment. The paper deals with a study of the influence of the abandoned mine Smolnik (Slovakia) on the aquatic environment. The chemical analyses of waters reveal negative impact on the Smolnik creek after the contamination by acid mine drainages mainly sulphates and heavy metals as iron, manganese, aluminium, copper, and zinc.