Water Quality and Management Research Needs

Food chain effects in pit lakes should be determined before stable biological habitats are artificially established. Additional investigations are recommended to establish water quality criteria on selected metals for protection of aquatic life and for establishment of acceptable metal burdens in aquatic prey of migratory birds this is of particular interest in pit lakes located in arid areas with increasing metals concentrations attributed to high evaporation rates. 

Major producers of gold include the RS A, the United States, the former Soviet Union, Canada, Australia, the People s Republic of China, and Brazil. However, official gold production data from many localities and nations are unreliable, and are usually underreported. Accurate reporting of gold production is needed in order to establish a realistic price for this commodity. 

Gold is a complex and reactive element, with unique chemical, physical, and biochemical properties. Additional research is strongly recommended on expansion of knowledge concerning properties of gold and its salts, and to centralize all findings in a single accessible database. 

The unique properties of gold have led to increasing use of the metal and its salts in the disciplines of electronics, dentistry, physiology, immunology, electron microscopy, and human medicine. Additional applications need to be explored. 

Recommended areas of research emphasis include sublethal effects of Au species to aquatic organisms 

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