Biological monitoring at Ada Tepe of the Han Krum deposit of Dundee Precious Metals Krumovgrad EAD

Monitoring was carried out in accordance with the Environmental Monitoring Plan, Part VI Biological Monitoring: Vegetation, for the purposes of the gold mining project of Dundee Precious Metals Krumovgrad EAD in the Ada Tepe prospect of the Han Krum deposit, Krumovgrad.

The following components were addressed in the course of the project:

1. Phytocoenotic assessment;

2. Health status of forest communities (incl. dendrochronology);

3. Accumulation of heavy metals and metalloids in indicator herbaceous and tree species.

The three parts are interlinked and aim at full monitoring of the “vegetation” component. The phytocoenotic assessment aims to establish the dynamics of selected representative plant communities that are sensitive to environmental change. The health status assessment, in turn, complements the phytocoenotic assessment of forest communities by making it possible to identify the abiotic, biotic and anthropogenic factors that could influence changes in the health status of forest communities in the Krumovgrad project area. The bioaccumulation of heavy metals and metalloids in indicator herbaceous and tree species aims, on the one hand, to determine the background/baseline concentrations of heavy metals and metalloids in the indicator species in the absence of mining activity and, on the other hand, to allow sound analyses of any changes in the composition of the monitored herbaceous and tree communities after mining operations begin.