Towards Greener Lixiviants in Value Recovery from Mine Wastes: Efficacy of Organic Acids for the Dissolution of Copper and Arsenic from Legacy Mine Tailings
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methodology
2.1. Site Description
2.2. Mine Tailing Collection Procedure
2.3. Physical and Chemical Characterisation of the Mine Tailings
2.4. Hydrometallurgical Extraction
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Physical and Chemical Characterisation of the Mine Tailings
3.2. Influence of Acid Concentration on Cu and As Dissolution
3.3. Influence of Solid–Liquid Ratio for Cu and As Dissolution
3.4. Influence of Mixing Speed on Cu and As Dissolution
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
- (a)
- Cu and As dissolution rates were determined to typically increase with an increase in the acid concentration, mixing speed, and liquid to solid ratio.
- (b)
- HCl, H2SO4 and CH3SO3H generally exhibited relatively similar leaching abilities for As despite their different pKa values, with removal percentages after 48 h of 58%, 56%, and 55% recorded for 1 M H2SO4, HCl and CH3SO3H respectively, compared to 44% exhibited by C6H8O7.
- (c)
- H2SO4 was generally shown to be the most effective acid type for Cu removal with 38% removal for 1 M solutions after 48 h, compared to 32%, 29%, and 22% recorded for HCl, CH3SO3H, and C6H8O7 respectively.
- (d)
- Overall the optimum leaching conditions was found to be 1 M acid concentration, 200 RPM mixing speed and a mixing time of 24 h, with only minor improvements in leaching efficacy recorded for concentrations greater than 1 M or time periods greater than 24 h.
Author Contributions
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Volume (m3) | Bulk Density (g/cm3) | Mass (Tonnes) [6] | Paste pH | TOC (wt %) | TIC (wt %) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
198.923 [6] | 1.30 | 258,600 | 3.33 | 0.16 | 0.00 |
Li | Na | Mg | Al | K | Ca | Ti | Cr | Mn |
0.0135 | 0.4312 | 0.5295 | 4.6035 | 0.8871 | 1.1426 | 0.2207 | 0.0315 ‡† | 0.0610 |
Fe | Ni1 | Cu | Zn | As | Ag | Cd | Sn | Pb |
9.9893 | 0.0019 | 0.1833 † | 0.0101 † | 1.9176 ‡ | <DL | 0.0012 † | 0.0290 | 0.0067 |
Element | Value Per Ton (£) * | Estimated Value in Tailings Pile † |
---|---|---|
Cu | 8.50 | 1,511,000 |
Zn | 0.20 | 36,000 |
Sn | 4.26 | 757,000 |
Pb | 0.11 | 19,000 |
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Crane, R.A.; Sapsford, D.J. Towards Greener Lixiviants in Value Recovery from Mine Wastes: Efficacy of Organic Acids for the Dissolution of Copper and Arsenic from Legacy Mine Tailings. Minerals 2018, 8, 383. https://doi.org/10.3390/min8090383
Crane RA, Sapsford DJ. Towards Greener Lixiviants in Value Recovery from Mine Wastes: Efficacy of Organic Acids for the Dissolution of Copper and Arsenic from Legacy Mine Tailings. Minerals. 2018; 8(9):383. https://doi.org/10.3390/min8090383
Chicago/Turabian StyleCrane, Richard A., and Devin J. Sapsford. 2018. "Towards Greener Lixiviants in Value Recovery from Mine Wastes: Efficacy of Organic Acids for the Dissolution of Copper and Arsenic from Legacy Mine Tailings" Minerals 8, no. 9: 383. https://doi.org/10.3390/min8090383