Research Article Distribution and Identification of Sources of Heavy Metals in the Voghji River Basin Impacted by Mining Activities (Armenia) A. V. Gabrielyan, 1 G. A. Shahnazaryan , 1 and S. H. Minasyan 2 1 “Environmental Monitoring and Information Center” SNCO, 0012 Yerevan, Armenia 2 Institute of Chemical Physics, NAS RA, 0014 Yerevan, Armenia Correspondence should be addressed to G. A. Shahnazaryan; gayane shahnazaryan@yahoo.com Received 23 December 2017; Revised 11 February 2018; Accepted 18 February 2018; Published 18 March 2018 Academic Editor: Xiao-San Luo Copyright © 2018 A. V. Gabrielyan et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Te objective of this research is to assess the distribution of heavy metals in the waters and sediments of the Voghji River and its tributaries impacted by mining activity and to reveal the real source of each of the heavy metals in the environment for assessing the pollution level of heavy metals. Voghji River with two main tributaries (Geghi and Norashenik) drain two mining regions. To identify distribution and pollution sources of heavy metals, the water and sediment samples were collected from eight sampling sites. Te results of statistical analysis based on data sets of the period 2014–2016 showed that, afer the infuence of drainage water and wastewater of mining regions, heavy metal contents in the Voghji River basin dramatically increased. Te waters of the Voghji River were highly polluted by Mn, Co, Cu, Zn, Mo, Cd, and Pb. Te relation of metals content was highly changed due to anthropogenic impact disturbing the geochemical balance of the Voghji River. Te water quality based on only heavy metal contents in the source of the Voghji River belongs to “good” chemical status, and in the sources of Geghi and Norashenik Rivers it is “moderate.” Te water quality of Voghji and Norashenik Rivers is sharply worsening afer the infuence of mining activity, becoming “bad” chemical status. Te research revealed the pollution sources of each metal. 1. Introduction Impact of mining on aquatic ecosystems became an issue of increasing concern. Mining by its nature consumes, diverts, and seriously pollutes water resources [1–3]. Mining and milling operations, together with grinding, concentrating ores, and disposal of tailings, provide obvious sources of contamination in the surface environment, along with dis- charge or overfow of wastewater, runof from rainfall or snowmelt, drainage from the toe of waste piles, and discharge of impacted groundwater to streams and springs. Water pollution problems caused by mining include acid mine drainage, metal contamination, and increased sediment levels in streams [4, 5]. Te generation of acidic drainage and the release of water containing high concentrations of dis- solved metals from mine wastes constitute an environmental problem of international scale [6–8]. Chemical leaching of metals occurs when precipitation from rainfall or snowmelt infltrates through ore or waste materials and dissolves or desorbs metals from the solid material. As a consequence, streams transport high contents of toxic trace elements such as As, Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, Sb, and Se [9]. Heavy metals are an important class of pollutants which can produce considerable harm to the environment when they are above certain concentrations [10–12]. Tese elements can be leached into the surface water or groundwater, taken up by plants, and can bond semipermanently with soil components such as clay or organic matter, which later afect human health [13]. Afer heavy metals enter into a water body, they can harm aquatic organisms, and, through the processes of chemical adsorption and physical precipitation, heavy metals can accumulate in the sediments of the water environment [14]. Heavy metal contents of the surface sedi- ments are generally signifcantly higher compared with those in the water body, so it is very important to explore the heavy metal contents in the surface sediments [15, 16]. Heavy metals are defned as metallic elements that have a relatively high density compared to water. With the assump- tion that heaviness and toxicity are interrelated, heavy metals also include metalloids, such as arsenic, that are able to induce Hindawi Journal of Chemistry Volume 2018, Article ID 7172426, 9 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/7172426