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The volcanosedimentary Guperas Formation contains the youngest volcanic rocks of the Sinclair Supergroup in the Konkiep Terrane of southern Namibia. Precise U-Pb zircon microbeam dating shows that the Guperas Formation as mapped includes felsic volcanic rocks which belong to both the first (1.37 to 1.33 Ga) and the third (1.11 to 1.07 Ga) magmatic cycle of the Sinclair Supergroup. Volcanic rocks of the 'true' Guperas Formation are dated by three samples, with a combined age of 1108 ± 10 Ma. The sedimentary rocks mapped as Guperas Formation are also distinguished by two different detrital age spectra into the ~1 100 Ma true Guperas Formation and the Aruab Member of the ~1 217 Ma Barby Formation. Geochronology now resolves the previous stratigraphic separation of the very similar Nubib and Rooiberg (Sonntag) Granites. The two small outcrops of 1 334 ± 5 Ma Rooiberg Granite are now shown to be part of the regional 1 334 ± 8 Ma Nubib Granite batholith. The Konkiep Terrane was affected by faulting and shear zones, but was only gently folded and not involved in regional metamorphism, despite its proximity to the Namaqua-Natal Province to the southwest. This is due to the Konkiep Terrane having a thick and strong continental basement which may have formed as part of the mainly Palaeoproterozoic Rehoboth Province. However no Palaeoproterozoic rocks are exposed in the Konkiep Terrane, which is now interpreted as an unaffiliated terrane. The three cycles of extrusive and plutonic magmatism in the Sinclair Supergroup formed in chronologically distinct periods and different tectonic settings, which requires revision of the stratigraphic nomenclature. The Konkiep Group is replaced by three new groups which are separated by >100 million-year unconformities. The Betta Group, represented by the mainly volcanic Kumbis, Nagatis and Welverdiend formations in the first magmatic cycle, probably formed in a passive continental rift setting due to breakup of the Rehoboth Province between 1 374 and 1 334 Ma. The Vergenoeg Group, represented by the sedimentary Kunjas and volcanic Barby and Haiber Flats formations, formed in a subduction setting at the margin of the Konkiep Terrane. This ~1 217 to 1204 Ma magmatic cycle ended with the accretion of Namaqua-Natal terranes to the Kalahari Craton. The ~1 100 Ma Ganaams Group, represented by the volcanic Guperas Formation and sedimentary Aubures Formation, was the result of interplay between the continentalscale Umkondo mantle heating event and movements between crustal blocks following the Namaqua-Natal collisional orogeny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than 100 years of mining, processing and smelter activities in Tsumeb have left their traces in the soils of the area. Sources of contaminations are solid and gaseous emissions from the smelter complex and particle emissions from processing facilities, tailings dumps as well as slag deposits. Easterly winds are prevailing in the Tsumeb area causing air borne pollution mainly to the west of the smelter complex. Geochemical studies on groundwater and soil, complimented by medical tests and studies on freshwater fish as well as agricultural products were carried out by the Geological Survey of Namibia (GSN) and its partner institutions to assess the environmental situation and to guide urban and regional land use planning. The analytical results of more than 550 soil samples taken around the smelter complex show critical concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, copper and lead which partly exceed international guideline values for residential and agricultural land uses. The heavy metal concentrations of most of the fruits and vegetables generally correlate with the heavy metal concentrations of the underlying soil. However, root and leaf vegetables showed comparably high concentrations of the heavy metals while stem vegetables and fruits are less affected. It was recommended to restrict land use in an inner buffer zone adjacent to the smelter complex to industrial activities. A planned major town extension of Tsumeb had to be stopped but alternative future residential areas could be delineated to the south and east of the town based on the soil surveys. In an intermediate zone, agricultural land use has to be limited to growing of fruits and stem vegetables. The current owner of the Tsumeb Smelter, Weatherly International, is highly supportive in implementing land use recommendations by GSN. An intensive coordination with the smelter management, the Ministry for Regional and Local Government, the town planners and other affected Ministries guarantees the outcome-oriented integration of the recommendations of our studies into future town and regional land use planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining and processing of ores in arid (desert) areas generates high amounts of dust, which might be enriched in potentially harmful elements. We studied dust fractions of ores, soils, and technological materials from mining and related hydrometallurgical operation at former Skorpion Zinc non-sulfide Zn deposit in southern Namibia (closed and placed under maintenance in 2020). Chemical and mineralogical investigation was combined with oral bioaccessibility testing of fine dust fractions (<48 μm and <10 μm) in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) to assess potential risk of intake of metallic contaminants (Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn) for staff operating in the area. The bulk metals concentrations were largely variable and ranked as follows: soils < tailings ≪ Skorpion ores < imported ores and dross used for feed ore blending. Maximum contaminant concentrations in the original granular materials were 927 mg Cd/kg, 9150 mg Cu/kg, 50 g Pb/kg and 706 g Zn/kg, respectively, and generally increased as a function of decreasing grain size. The highest bioaccessible concentrations of Cd and Pb yielded imported ores from Taiwan and Turkey and, together with the milled dross, these samples also exhibited the highest Zn bioaccessibilities. The exposure estimates calculated for a worker (weighing 70 kg) in this mining/ore processing operation at a dust ingestion rate of 100 mg/day indicated that most dust samples (soils, tailings, Skorpion ores) exhibited metals intake values far below tolerable daily intake limits. The overall health risk was limited in all mining and ore processing areas except for the ore blending area, where imported ores and recycled dross enriched in bioaccessible Cd, Pb and/or Zn were used for the ore blending. Safety measures required by the mine operator (wearing of masks by the operating staff) helped to prevent the staff's exposure to potentially contaminated dust even in this blending ore area., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The depletion of the ore reserves in the world necessitates the search for secondary sources such as waste products (tailings and slag). The treatment and cleaning up of such secondary sources also has a positive impact on the environment. A smelter in Namibia we examined had historic slag which accumulated over decades of its operating life, thus posing the challenge of how best to collect representative samples to evaluate and propose viable methods of recovering contained metals. In this study, analytical and mineralogical characterization of the slag was performed using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS), ICP-OES, scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) analysis, and optical microscopy analysis. The chemical analyses showed that the metal values contained in the slag were mainly copper, lead, and zinc whose average contents were approximately 0.35% Cu, 3% Pb, and 5.5% Zn. About 10.5% Fe was also contained in the slag. Germanium was detected by scanning electron microscopy, but was however below detection limits of the chemical analysis equipment used. Based on the results, approximate conditions under which the different slag phases were formed were estimated and the recovery routes for the various metals were proposed. Analysis by both optical and scanning electron microscopy revealed that Zn and Fe occurred mainly in association with O as oxides, while Cu and Pb were mainly associated with S as sulphides. The slag consisted of three different phases, namely the silicate phase (slag), metallic phase and the sulphide phases. The phases in the slag were mainly silicate phases as well as metallic and sulphide phases. It was observed that the metallic and sulphide phases were dominant in the finer size fractions (-75 µm) whereas the sulphide phase was also present in the coarser size fractions (+300 µm). An important finding from the microscopy examination was that the sulphide phases were interstitial and could be liberated from the slag. This finding meant that liberation and subsequent concentration of the sulphide phases was feasible using conventional processing techniques.

The surroundings of mines and smelters may be exposed to wildfires, especially in semi-arid areas. The temperature-dependent releases of metal(loid)s (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn) from biomass-rich savanna soils collected near a Cu smelter in Namibia have been studied under simulated wildfire conditions. Laboratory single-step combustion experiments (250-850 °C) and experiments with a continuous temperature increase (25-750 °C) were coupled with mineralogical investigations of the soils, ashes, and aerosols. Metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn) were released at >550-600 °C, mostly at the highest temperatures, where complex aerosol particles, predominantly composed of slag-like aggregates, formed. In contrast, As exhibited several emission peaks at ~275 °C, ~370-410 °C, and ~580 °C, reflecting its complex speciation in the solid phase and indicating its remobilization, even during wildfires with moderate soil heating. At <500 °C, As was successively released via the transformation of As-bearing hydrous ferric oxides, arsenolite (As 2 O 3 ) grains attached to the organic matter fragments, metal arsenates, and/or As-bearing apatite, followed by the thermal decomposition of enargite (Cu 3 AsS 4 ) at >500 °C. The results indicate that the active and abandoned mining and smelting sites, especially those highly enriched in As, should be protected against wildfires, which can be responsible for substantial As re-emissions., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Wildfires can be responsible for significant mercury (Hg) emissions especially in contaminated areas. Here, we investigated the Hg distribution in topsoils and vegetation samples and temperature-dependent Hg mobilization from biomass-rich topsoils collected near a copper (Cu) smelter in Tsumeb (semi-arid Namibia), where Hg-rich Cu concentrates are processed. The thermo-desorption (TD) experiments conducted on representative biomass-rich topsoils (3.9-7.7 mg Hg/kg) indicated that more than 91% of the Hg was released at ∼340 °C, which corresponds to the predominant grassland-fire conditions. The mineralogical investigation indicated that the Hg comes mainly from the deposited smelter emissions because no distinct Hg-rich microparticles corresponding to the windblown dust from the nearby disposal sites of the technological materials (concentrates, slags, tailings) were found. A comparison with the TD curves of the Hg reference compounds confirmed that the Hg in the biomass-rich topsoils occurs as a mixture of Hg bound to the organic matter and metacinnabar (black HgS), which exhibits similarities with the TD pattern of smelter flue dust residue. Despite the installation of a sulfuric acid plant in the smelter in 2015 and a calculated drop in the estimated Hg emissions (from 1301 ± 457 kg/y for the period 2004-2015 to 67 ± 5 kg/y after 2015), the Hg legacy pool in the smelter surroundings can potentially be re-emitted back to the atmosphere by wildfire. Using the Hg spatial distribution data in the area (184 km 2 ), the estimates indicate that up to 303 kg and 1.3 kg can be remobilized from the topsoils and vegetation, respectively., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Shrub encroachment has far-reaching ecological and economic consequences in many ecosystems worldwide. Yet, compositional changes associated with shrub encroachment are often overlooked despite having important effects on ecosystem functioning.We document the compositional change and potential drivers for a northern Namibian Combretum woodland transitioning into a Terminalia shrubland. We use a multiproxy record (pollen, sedimentary ancient DNA, biomarkers, compound-specific carbon (δ 13 C) and deuterium (δD) isotopes, bulk carbon isotopes (δ 13 Corg), grain size, geochemical properties) from Lake Otjikoto at high taxonomical and temporal resolution.We provide evidence that state changes in semiarid environments may occur on a scale of one century and that transitions between stable states can span around 80 years and are characterized by a unique vegetation composition. We demonstrate that the current grass/woody ratio is exceptional for the last 170 years, as supported by n -alkane distributions and the δ 13 C and δ 13 Corg records. Comparing vegetation records to environmental proxy data and census data, we infer a complex network of global and local drivers of vegetation change. While our δD record suggests physiological adaptations of woody species to higher atmospheric p CO 2 concentration and drought, our vegetation records reflect the impact of broad-scale logging for the mining industry, and the macrocharcoal record suggests a decrease in fire activity associated with the intensification of farming. Impact of selective grazing is reflected by changes in abundance and taxonomical composition of grasses and by an increase of nonpalatable and trampling-resistant taxa. In addition, grain-size and spore records suggest changes in the erodibility of soils because of reduced grass cover. Synthesis. We conclude that transitions to an encroached savanna state are supported by gradual environmental changes induced by management strategies, which affected the resilience of savanna ecosystems. In addition, feedback mechanisms that reflect the interplay between management legacies and climate change maintain the encroached state., Competing Interests: None declared., (© 2019 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Ore mining and processing in semi-arid areas is responsible for the generation of metal(loid)-containing dust, which is easily transported by wind to the surrounding environment. To assess the human exposure to dust-derived metal(loid)s (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Sb, Zn), as well as the potential risks related to incidental dust ingestion, we studied mine tailing dust (n = 8), slag dust (n = 5) and smelter dust (n = 4) from old mining and smelting sites in northern Namibia (Kombat, Berg Aukas, Tsumeb). In vitro bioaccessibility testing using extraction in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) was combined with determination of grain-size distributions, chemical and mineralogical characterizations and leaching tests conducted on original dust samples and separated PM 10 fractions. The bulk and bioaccessible concentrations of the metal(loid)s were ranked as follows: mine tailing dusts < slag dusts ≪ smelter dusts. Extremely high As and Pb bioaccessibilities in the smelter dusts were caused by the presence of highly soluble phases such as arsenolite (As 2 O 3 ) and various metal-arsenates unstable under the acidic conditions of SGF. The exposure estimates calculated for an adult person of 70 kg at a dust ingestion rate of 50 mg/day indicated that As, Pb (and also Cd to a lesser extent) grossly exceeded tolerable daily intake limits for these contaminants in the case of slag and smelter dusts. The high risk for smelter dusts has been acknowledged, and the safety measures currently adopted by the smelter operator in Tsumeb are necessary to reduce the staff's exposure to contaminated dust. The exposure risk for the local population is only important at the unfenced disposal sites at Berg Aukas, where the PM 10 exhibited high levels of bioaccessible Pb., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

We studied arid desert soils from Namibia (Rosh Pinah) that were contaminated with up to 7 mg kg -1 of thallium (Tl) via dust emitted from a local flotation tailing dam. Chemical extractions of waste and soil materials indicated that most of the Tl is strongly bound, in accordance with X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy data that point to the predominant association of Tl with metal sulfides and phyllosilicates. The isotope fractionation factor ε 205 Tl of the soil samples (from -0.4 to +3.8) shows a positive linear relationship (R 2  = 0.62) with 1/Tl, indicative for the mixing of two major Tl pools, presumably anthropogenic Tl and geogenic Tl. The ε 205 Tl value for the topmost soil samples (∼+3) closely matches the ε 205 Tl value for post-flotation waste particles with a diameter of <0.05 mm, whereas the bulk flotation waste exhibits a significantly larger ε 205 Tl value (∼+6). These variations are in accordance with predominant atmospheric transfer of Tl from the tailings to the adjacent soils via fine (dust) particles. The identified minimal Tl alteration in soils indicates that only a small part of the Tl could be potentially released and passively enter the vegetation, local population and/or food chain in the long term. From this viewpoint, Tl does not represent such an important environmental concern as other (abundant) contaminants at the locality. Furthermore, there could be a relevance for other alkaline desert soils, including those where Tl pollution plays a major role., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)