ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF MINE PIT LAKES: A REVIEW

Abstract

Pit lakes are an emerging environmental problem in the world. Although its ecological risks are still largely unknown by researchers, they can represent promising opportunities for use or worrying environmental problems. The objective of this work was to give an overview of the main research approaches on the subject of internationally developed mining lake (1979–2018). And for that, the term “pit lake” was used in the CAPES database to select the articles analyzed. The results showed that information related to pit lakes is incipient, especially in Latin America, and that most of the researches conducted to date have limited focus to geochemical approaches. The environmental management of these artificial spaces needs to be interdisciplinary, which makes it challenging. An area of research identified, though not yet developed and which may contribute to a better understanding of the subject, is the development of studies based on the combination of chemical, ecotoxicological and genotoxic aspects of the waters of the pit lakes, nonexistent until then.