Trace elements in water, sediments, porewater, and biota polluted by tailings from an abandoned gold mine in British Columbia, Canada

Abstract The concentrations of major and trace elements in different environmental compartments (e.g., water, suspended and bottom sediments, sediment porewater, and biota) of Jack of Clubs Lake (JCL), Wells, British Columbia (Canada), were determined to assess the biogeochemical effects of abandoned gold mine tailings on the aquatic ecosystem of JCL in the Fraser River drainage basin. Arsenic and Pb were transported from the tailings to the lake, where they accumulated in bottom sediments in concentrations up to 1104 and 281 μ/g, respectively. Although the benthic community in the lake was only partially affected, there was evidence that the tailings inhibited a variety of microbial activities in the lake sediments. The concentrations of As, Cd, Cu and Pb in invertebrates collected from streams flowing through mine tailings, and from vegetation growing on the tailings, suggest a potential for contamination of the food chain of the surrounding ecosystems.