Mineralogical control of synergetic thallium and antimony weathering

As metals and metalloids have a strong impact on the environment, methods for their detection and speciation have received a particular attention in the last few years. Thallium (Tl), antimony (Sb) and arsenic (As) are important examples of such toxic elements. Their speciation is of the particular interest owing to their toxicity, bioavailability and reactivity. One of the world most famous deposit hosting all these three elements is Sb-As-Tl-Au Allchar deposit in North Macedonia, which mining waste dumps and technosoils served us as an ideal natural laboratory for the investigations of the oxidative processes on the primary sulfide and sulfosalt minerals. Of the particular interest were the weathering processes in the Sb-rich (Sb: 1000–16500 ppm) central part of the deposit, where Tl-concentrations have been measured in the range between 120-840 ppm (Đorđević et al. 2021).