Using a series of analytical and experimental methods, a predictive estimate was obtained for the possible environmental impact of the waste rocks of the Veduginskoe gold deposit. All samples of the country rocks were analyzed for major and 13 trace elements. This allowed us to demonstrate that the accumulation of elements in the water phase (water and weak acid extracts) is not always correlated with their contents in the solid material but controlled by their chemical speciation in the water-rock system. The dynamics of 20-week leaching of a series of contrasting rock samples supported the plausibility of criteria selected for their differentiation: the filtrates of one group remained neutral to weakly alkaline up to the end of experiments, whereas an "acid mine drainage" was produced in the other group. Acid sulfate solution with high contents of Fe, Al, and heavy metals can also accumulate Be, As, and Hg. However, the slightly alkaline solutions that have not received proper attention during environmental protection operations may transport elements with specified maximum permissible concentrations (MPC): anion-forming Sb, As, and Mo; amphoteric Be; and supertoxic Hg.
