Assessment of the mining practices effects on the water quality in the Ibar river within the Leposavić municipality

Exploitation, development and primary extraction of the minerals result in release of the harmful substances, e.g. heavy metals, toxic gases, dirt, etc, that are often uncontrolled deposit in the environment. Those deposited and overlooked substances remain as a heritage and challenge for the coming generations that would involve abundant human, technical and financial resources for the environmental reclamation. The mining activities of the Trepca - RIF Kopaonik has both positive and negative influences within the Leposavic municipality, i.e., industrial development and environmental degradation. As a result of the mining activities the air, land and water resources both surface and underground are severely polluted. The main objective of this paper is to present adverse effects of the mineral resources (lead and zinc) exploitation and primary extraction on the Ibar River water quality degradation mainly by heavy metals. Since the heavy metals are frequently ingested by the people through the food chain and given the high toxicity of them they are crucial parameters for the water quality monitoring practices that should be carefully assessed and controlled. Thus this paper includes comprehensive analyses of the heavy metals concentration (Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd and Fe) in the Ibar River within the Leposavic municipality.