changes of microbial community composition and function in the acidification process of a lead/zinc mine tailings

In an attempt to link the microbial community composition and function in mine tailings to the generation of acid mine drainage, we simultaneously explored the geochemistry and microbiology of a suite of six tailings collected from a lead/zinc mine, i.e. primary tailings (T1), slightly acidic tailings (T2), extremely acidic tailings (T3, T4 and T5) and orange-colored oxidized tailings (T6). Geochemical results showed that the six tailings (from T1 to T6) likely represented sequential stages of the acidification process of the mine tailings.