Evaluación de la reactividad de sulfuros de hierro y residuos mineros: una metodología basada en la aplicación de la voltamperometría cíclica

Abstract

Recebido em 13/1/05; aceito em 27/7/05; publicado na web em 16/2/06 EVALUATION OF THE REACTIVITY OF IRON SULFIDES AND MINING WASTES: METHODOLOGY BASED ON CYCLIC VOLTAMMETRY. The mining industry around the world produces an important amount of wastes, which by their high toxic metal and iron sulfide content present a serious environmental problem. Iron sulfide oxidation under weathering conditions provokes the main environmental problem of the mining industry, the generation of Acid Rock Drainage (ARD). Up to now the prediction methodologies do not allow the study of important factors that influence the generation of ARD, producing in some cases erroneous or uncertain conclusions. This paper shows the utilization of cyclic voltammetry using carbon paste electrodes (CPE-Mineral) as an alternative tool in the study of the oxidation capacity of iron sulfides and mining wastes. This electrochemical technique constitutes a novel methodology to establish and understand the factors involved during generation of ARD. Results of several studies including selected sulfide samples and sulfide mining wastes have been described in order to show the capacity of this methodology as a complementary tool in the prediction of the generation of ARD.

Evaluation of Zeolite/Backfill Blend for Acid Mine Drainage Remediation in Coal Mine

“…After 1 day of leaching, iron content in the leachate was high (1225 mg kg –1 ), indicating that processing operations, storage, transport, and exposure of the waste to air had already partially oxidized pyrite. The mechanism of pyrite oxidation in the presence of water has been widely studied owing to the impact of waste containing pyrite exposed to weather and is described in the following simplified form (eqs –)­ …”