INVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF LITHIUM MINING ON SOIL QUALITY, AND PLANT GROWTH IN ANGWA-KEDE COMMUNITY, KOKONA LGA, NASARAWA STATE

EBIKEMEFA EBIMOBOWEI CLINTON; RAMALAN ALIYU MOHAMMED; DUNGKA THOMAS

doi:10.22159/ijss.2025v13i3.52585

Authors

EBIKEMEFA EBIMOBOWEI CLINTON Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
RAMALAN ALIYU MOHAMMED Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
DUNGKA THOMAS Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5435-5809

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22159/ijss.2025v13i3.52585

Keywords:

Soil contamination, Plant Contamination, Soil Nutrient Dynamics, XRF

Abstract

Transition to green energy has made lithium mining one of the biggest ventures in the world but this comes with its implications. This research was conducted to check the level of lithium mining contamination on soil quality and on plants in the Angwa-Kede community due to observed poor agricultural yield. A systematic sampling method was conducted on both plant and soil samples from the mining site and host community of Angwa- Kede to check the effects of lithium mining activity. The obtained plant and soil samples were analyzed using X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) analysis to check elemental composition and the nutrient dynamics of both plant and soil. The XRF result revealed that soil samples from the host community displayed higher level of aluminum (Al) concentration in soil ranging from 20.48 to 31.18% Al indicating high contamination. Flame Test results of plant samples from the lithium mining site contain 0.466–0.477 ppm Li while those from the host community has lithium concentrations ranging from 0.0139 to 0.194 ppm Li, which is above the accumulated level of lithium concentration in the blood (0.01374–0.02748 ppm Li) an indication of toxicity to human health. Soil samples of the mining site having Rf of 139.76, 168.49, and 350.26 while the Soil samples from the host community have Rf of 7,194.24, 10,810.81, and 14,388.48, respectively. In conclusion, the obtained result shows a high level of soil and plant contamination in the Angwa- Kede community, which is caused by uncontrolled mining method and a poor waste disposal system.

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