Dissolved heavy metals in a lacustrine mine tailings deposit—Buttle lake,British Columbia

Dissolved Zn, Cu and Cd concentrations in interstitial waters collected from a lacustrine mine tailings deposit indicate that the tailings are not releasing heavy metals to the overlying lake water at present, and there is no evidence to suggest that significant oxidation is occurring in the deposit. The lake waters are enriched in metals from surface drainage, however, while pore waters in natural sediments are heavy-metal-depleted. Diffusion into the natural sediments therefore tends to buffer the lacustrine metal load, but only to a very limited extent.