Estudio y evaluación de los flujos ácido derivados de la minería en las márgenes del río Calera, distrito minero Portovelo - Zaruma

Abstract

Abstract: The problems caused by explotation and extraction of precious metals, in particular gold and silver, are also reflected in the environment of the mining district Portovelo Zaruma. Mining activities, are located at the banks of the river Calera. Deposits of environmental liabilities cause very aggressive acid flows water for the river which is the direct recipient of this phenomenon, degrading its quality. This not affects only the inhabitants of Zaruma and Portovelo, but also to existing populations down the river Puyango, which flows through the area and empties in to Peru, more than 100 miles ahead (banks of the river of the watershed Puyango - Tumbes Peru and Ecuador). All these people depend on the river for their livelihood. The aim of this work is to evaluate and study the produced acid flow from mining activities in the mining district Portovelo - Zaruma, at the banks of the river Calera. The methodology is divided into four phases. The first phase gathered information about the area of interest. The second phase consisted in field work, selecting the points of interest, recording the coordinates by GPS and taking the corresponding samples. In the third phase of laboratory the metal content of the samples and other components such as pH, total alkalinity, total hardness and total acidity are determined. In the final phase the results are evaluated by applying statistical and geostatistical methods, to obtain a deeper characterization of the acid flow into the rivers inside the study area. The final prediction maps are developed through sectoral application of ArcGIS and its Geo Statistics module. Hence a register of the proportion of actual pollution inside the river, which is reasonably representative indicator of the pollution in the area, could be generated.