KÅ™íbek edited in 2011 a document including a large amount of information regarding the contamination of mining sites in different parts of the world has been collected by carrying out systematic geochemical sampling, analysis and interpretation of obtained data. This has led to better understanding of the cause and effect that created an impetus for a new environmental legislation and strategies for remediation of polluted regions in many developed countries. In Africa, because of economic pressures and slower evolution of environmental awareness, local communities have particularly been exposed to the detrimental effects of mining contamination on public health, agriculture and the environment.
During the last twenty years, environmental experts and organizations from South Africa, Europe, Australia and North America have increasingly cooperated with their counterparts in other African countries in a number of projects implemented in various countries of this continent. However, these geochemical investigations tended to be focused on the effects of mining and mineral processing at national level and in specific mining districts without taking into account the overall impact on larger hydrological and environmental domains across the continent. In environmental issues, the cross-border cooperation and liaison between the African governments and institutions have so far been limited. Consequently, there is sufficient scope for sharing the knowledge of monitoring methods and for developing a common approach to the management and interpretation of geochemical data so that natural anomalies can be assessed and distinguished from those caused by mining and related industrial activities, taking into account the geology, topography, climate, vegetation and hydrology in different regions of Africa.
Therefore, a new IGCP project No. 594 entitled ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF MINING AND MINERAL PROCESSING ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN HEALTH IN AFRICA was proposed to the International Geological Correlation Programme (IGCP) Board in 1010, and approved by the Board in 2011.
The project is designed to:
1) to correlate and integrate the results of multidisciplinary studies carried out in contaminated sites and areas using the best contemporary procedures for statistical
analysis, management and compilation of the geochemical data;
2) to strengthen the capacity of African institutions in environmental geochemistry by cooperation with foreign experts and organizations,
3) to raise public awareness of the impacts of mining on the environment and human health and,
4) to facilitate cooperation among geoscientists and medical scientists.
The Inaugural Workshop of the Project is scheduled to take place at Kitwe, Zambia, from October 17th to 18th, 2011. Extended abstracts given in this volume are to be presented in oral form or as posters during the above-mentioned Inaugural Workshop.
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