Using the mineralogy of river sediments as pollution indicator of clay mining activity

ABSTRACT View of the difficulty to elect standards for water pollution control in clay mining activity, this study aimed to verify the possibility of using the mineralogy of river sediments as a pollution indicator of clay mining activity. The study was carried out in the Assistência Stream basin, located in the largest ceramic pole of the Americas. Surface water samples of Assistência Stream were collected in 67 field campaigns in 2014. This stream showed an average annual discharge of 0.8 m3.s-1 with an annual flux of suspended solids of 3,680 t.year-1 and an annual flux of dissolved solids of 4,234 t.year-1. The mineralogical analysis of fluvial sediments indicated the presence of quartz, montmorillonite, illite and kaolinite in the fraction