Distribution Characteristics and Ecological Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Soils Around Gold Deposits in Desert Steppe

Taking Bilihe gold mine soil in Suniteyou Banner of Xilingol league as the test material, geostatistical interpolation method and single factor index, Nemerow index, geo-accumulation index and potential ecological risk index were used to analyze spatial distribution of major heavy metals in the surrounding soil, in order to provide reference for soil remediation and environmental management of grassland metal mines.The results showed that the four main heavy metals in the study area were accumulated.Among them, 6% of as exceeded the national soil agricultural land grade II standard, and Cu, Hg and Cd were under control.In terms of spatial distribution, the contents of Cu, Hg and Cd in the soil were higher in the east of the mining area than in the west, and the content of As in the north of the mining area was higher than that in the south.The soil heavy metal pollution assessment of single factor and geo-accumulation index were As＞Cd＞Cu＞Hg, and the potential ecological risk index was Cd＞Hg＞As＞Cu.The regional comprehensive ecological risk assessment result as follows, the south side of RI tailings pond（127.35） ＞ the north side of RI tailings pond（118.18） ＞ RI dump（96.26）.The ecological risk level of the study area was dominated by slight ecological risk, and 10.2% of the area was at medium ecological risk.