Human activities such as mining operations may constitute an important source of trace elements input in the environment. An extensive exploitation of Mn-ore took place during the period 1950 to 1994 in Drama district, Macedonia, Northern Greece. Mining and ore processing has created a vast amount of solid wastes including tailings, low grade ore, and heaps of concentrated ore, which were deposited around the "25 km Milmine" place, without particular safety measures. These wastes are important sources of metals and may influence the agricultural fields of the surrounding area and the aquatic ecosystem.Current research was focused on the assessment of total concentration and spatial distribution of trace elements in the surface soils of the western Drama plain, at an effort to evaluate the influence of the past Mn mining activities on heavy metals (FBAs) contamination in this area.A grid-type (cell-size lx1 km) sampling scheme was applied and a total of 150 surface (0-20cm) soil samples were collected. The <180om fraction was analyzed by inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) for 36 major and trace elements, whereof 8 elements (Mn, Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, Ni, Cr, and As) are presented in this study.Total metal concentration ranges (in mg.kg-I) observed were: 245-130013 for Mn, 111996 for Pb, 23-2140 for Zn, 5-153 for Cu, 0.4-28 for Cd, 5-137 for Ni, 4-98 for Cr, and 2-1077 for As, with mean values of 4149, 181, 133, 34, 2, 32, 34, and 42, respectively. Enrichment factors (EFs) were also calculated to identify the metal accumulation with respect to guideline values.Geochemical maps of IlMs concentrations were produced using Arc GIS software to assess their spatial distribution and to identify possible non-point sources of contamination. Contour plots and EF peak values identify the existence of extreme contamination of soil samples situated close and along both sides of the Xiropotamos stream. It is concluded that the major source of Mn, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, and As pollutants are the effluents of the Xiropotamos stream, which flows through the "25 km Mnmine" place and causes a long time and continuous transportation of tailing wastes and pollutants towards the Drama plain. Nickel and Cr concentrations peak at the west of the plain and probably have an urban source.Further studies are needed, however, to evaluate the bioavailability of the heavy metals, to properly ascertain the risk of soils environmental pollution.

The present study has been carried out with the use of Remote Sensing techniques in combination with Geographical Information Systems/GIS for monitoring and protection of the environment, in the surroundings of mining areas, as well as for developing new techniques for searching for new Mn-ore deposits, in Drama area, Northern Greece.Various digital processing techniques were applied on LANDSAT-TM imagery. These techniques included different methodologies, such as the "Principal Component Analysis" (PCA), "Ratioing", "Density Slicing", "Intensity Hue Saturation" (IHS) Transformation, and "Supervised Classification". In some cases, the methodologies were modified, in order to improve the final outcome.By the use of these processing techniques, various enhanced images were produced, the best of which were used to the False Colour Composite (FCC) synthesis. The above composites of the FCC images were used for the identification and mapping of areas with increased surface concentration of metallic minerals and delineation of photo-lineaments.Furthermore, various GIS information levels were created, such as ores' occurrences, faults and drainage network, which were involved in the GIS, in order to produce new maps. These new produced maps give more mineralogical and environmental information for the area, such as the relation between ores and tectonics, the relation between ores and drainage network, etc.

The composition and the textural features of coexisting Mn�silicates and carbonates in the Olympias polymetallic sulphide ore deposit, E. Chalcidiki peninsula, N. Greece are studied for the first time. Mn�pyroxenoids are locally found as spheroidal forms of light pink to brownish�pink color and consisting of radiating, prismatic to fibrous crystals within a matrix of pink�carbonates, calcite and quartz. The Olympias deposit is hosted within marbles of the Kerdylia Formation and the ore mineralization is related to the hydrothermal activity of the Tertiary magmatism in the broader area. Electron microprobe analyses on the Mn�pyroxenoids yielded compositions overlapping the fields of rhodonite and pyroxmangite, with molecular components MnSiO3 – 82 to 90%, CaSiO3 – 2 to 9%, FeSiO3 – 3 to 12% and (Mg+Ni)SiO3 – 1 to 5%. Temporal changes in P, T and the activity of solution components can explain the coexistence of the two Mn� pyroxenoids. The pink carbonate phase is a Mn�Mg�Fe�Ca solid solution rich in rhodochrosite component (72–84 mol.%) with significant calcite (9–25 mol.%) and minor but variable magnesite (1–5 mol.%) and siderite (1–4 mol.%) end members. Rhodochrosite and quartz were formed at the expence of Mn�pyroxenoids and this process can be described by the model reaction MnSiO3+CO2=MnCO3+SiO2 which took place in a CO2�saturated environment and dropping temperature. The spheroidal forms and radiating structure of Mn�pyroxenoids expresses a growth in open space (fissures) from a uniform supply of material to all directions and a preferred orientation of crystals to a spherical end edifice.

An extensive exploitation of Mn-ore took place during the period 1950 to 1994 in the Drama district, Northern Greece. Mining and ore processing has created a vast amount of wastes including tailings, low grade ore and heaps of concentrated ore, which were deposited around the central establishment of Kato Nevrokopi. A long time transportation of these wastes by fluvial processes has affected the Xiropotamos stream sediments by a serious contamination with some toxic heavy metals. X-ray powder diffraction, optical microscopy, SEM and EPMA studies of the Xiropotamos stream sediments showed that quartz, calcite, micas and feldspars are the prevailing gangue minerals, while goethite and the Mn- oxide minerals todorokite, pyrolusite, birnessite and coronadite are the widely present opaques. Bulk chemical analyses of the sediments revealed the following average contents for some heavy metals: Mn — 131863, Zn — 3302, Pb — 1612, Ba — 542, Cu — 158, Sr — 991, and Ni — 74 (all values in ppm). These values significantly exceed the average soil composition world- wide, and some of them the international safety standards for soils. Specifically, the concentrations of Mn, Pb, Zn, and partly of Cu are far in excess of the stipulated phytotoxic levels. Electron probe microanalyses of the Mn-minerals revealed metal contents, as high as: 33.34 wt.% PbO, 4.28 wt.% ZnO, and 1.99 wt.% CuO in coronadite, 14.61 wt.% ZnO in birnes-