Wind erosion on mining waste in southeast Spain

Mining activities are one of the most persistent causes of soil degradation by pollution of heavy metals on the planet. They generate huge amounts of wastes that are deposited over extensive areas. Due to the grain size of the mining wastes, they are prone to wind erosion. As a consequence of their composition with heavy metal, the eroded material can be a potential pollutant of soil and air. This means they are potential pollutants of both the atmosphere and the surrounding soils, not to mention the high risk on they pose the nearby populations. This research evaluates the amount of wind‐mobilized material and its heavy metal content in sterile slag ponds located in the Cartagena–La Unión area (southeast Spain), which had been a mining area for thousands of years until its demise in 1991. Specific collectors were designed to measure the sediment transported by the wind into the dust traps. They were placed on sterile lag at three heights (21, 42 and 63 cm.) and eight wind directions (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW). The results show a high concentration of heavy metals, especially zinc and lead, which could have harmful effects on nearby towns, farming areas and beaches. In some cases, soils located near mining areas, which could potentially be turned over to agriculture, are degraded by heavy metal pollution to the extent that practically they can be considered as desert.