River sediment is comprised of complex mineral systems composed by different kinds of organic and inorganic matter, and thus, is difficult to characterize. Besides, some standard techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), optical and scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy, inductively couple plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and simultaneous Thermogravimetric Analysis – Differential Thermal Analysis (TGA-DTA), Mössbauer spectroscopy and magnetometry can provide substancial information about the compositional, physical, and chemical characteristics. In the current study, the versality of these methods is tested and the information provided by these methods for eight sediment samples, collected from the Moquegua River, Peru is compared. Qualitative analysis indicates that the samples consist of sand grains with differen...

The expansion of copper mining on the hyper-arid pacific slope of Southern Peru has precipitated growing concern for scarce water resources in the region. Located in the headwaters of the Torata river, in the department of Moquegua, the Cuajone mine, owned by Southern Copper, provides a unique opportunity in a little-studied region to examine the relative impact of the landscape-scale mining on water resources in the region. Principal component and cluster analyses of the water chemistry data from 16 sites, collected over three seasons during 2017 and 2018, show distinct statistical groupings indicating that, above the settlement of Torata, water geochemistry is a function of chemical weathering processes acting upon underlying geological units, and confirming that the Cuajone mine does not significantly affect water quality in the Torata river. Impact mitigation strategies that firstly ...

The expansion of copper mining on the hyper-arid pacific slope of Southern Peru has precipitated growing concern for scarce water resources in the region. Located in the headwaters of the Torata river, in the department of Moquegua, the Cuajone mine, owned by Southern Copper, provides a unique opportunity in a little-studied region to examine the relative impact of the landscape-scale mining on water resources in the region. Principal component and cluster analyses of the water chemistry data from 16 sites, collected over three seasons during 2017 and 2018, show distinct statistical groupings indicating that, above the settlement of Torata, water geochemistry is a function of chemical weathering processes acting upon underlying geological units, and confirming that the Cuajone mine does not significantly affect water quality in the Torata river. Impact mitigation strategies that firstly ...

River sediment is comprised of complex mineral systems composed by different kinds of organic and inorganic matter, and thus, is difficult to characterize. Besides, some standard techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), optical and scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy, inductively couple plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and simultaneous Thermogravimetric Analysis – Differential Thermal Analysis (TGA-DTA), Mössbauer spectroscopy and magnetometry can provide substancial information about the compositional, physical, and chemical characteristics. In the current study, the versality of these methods is tested and the information provided by these methods for eight sediment samples, collected from the Moquegua River, Peru is compared. Qualitative analysis indicates that the samples consist of sand grains with differen...