Evaluation of Hydrochemical Attributes of the Amachara Mining Area, Lower Benue Trough

Hydrochemical evaluation of Amachara and its environs was carried out. The area lies between lat. 6º 30'N and 6º 35'N, and long. 8º05'E and 8º10'E. The area is underlain by the Abakaliki Shales of the Asu River Group (Albian). Twenty –seven (27) parameters (4 physical and 23 chemical) were analyzed for ten water samples collected from different groundwater and surface water sources across the area. Atomic Absorbtion Spectrophotometer (AAS), AA240 series was used to analyze the ions concentrations. The result reveal that chemical constituents such as As, S042-, Pb2+, Se2+, Hg2+, and Cd2+ occurs at values above the maximum permissible limits, thereby causing significant contaminations. The most prevalent ionic concentration includes Cl-, S042-, Na2+, Ca2+, Se2+, Mg2+, K+, As, Cd2+, Hg2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Zn2+ and Cu2+. The sources of these high concentrations of chemical elements in the water resources of the study area is attributed to the dissolution of minerals from the abandoned lead-zinc mine and also from agricultural practices as well as sewage effluents.