Mineralogical study of electrum grain size, shape and mineral chemistry in process streams from the Krumovgrad mine, Bulgaria

Demeusy, Bastien; Madanski, Deyan; Bouzahzah, Hassan; Gaydardzhiev, Stoyan

doi:10.1016/j.mineng.2023.108080

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Mine tailing dumps in Bulgaria are well studied from a environmental or technological point of view. Some results on mine tailing valorization have been recently discussed in detail [19][20][21]. However, the mine tailing potential for application as raw materials for geopolymer obtaining is scarcely reported.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Bulgarian Copper Mine Tailing as a Precursor for Obtaining Geopolymers

Ilieva,

Angelova,

Radoykova

et al. 2024

Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Valorization of high-volume mine tailings could be achieved by the development of new geopolymers with a low CO2 footprint. Materials rich in aluminum and silicon with appropriate solubility in an alkaline medium can be used to obtain a geopolymer. This paper presents a study of copper mine tailings from Bulgaria as precursors for geopolymers. Particle size distribution, chemical and mineralogical composition, as well as alkaline reactivity, acidity and electroconductivity of aqueous slurry are studied. The heavy metal content and their mobility are studied by leaching tests. Sequential extraction was applied to determine the geochemical phase distribution of heavy metals. The studied samples were characterized by high alkalinity, which could favor the geopolymerization process. The water-soluble sulphates were less than 4%. The Si/Al ratio in mine tailing was found to be 3. The alkaline reactivity depended more so on the time of extraction than on the concentration of NaOH solution. The main part of the heavy metals was found in the residual fraction; hence, in high alkaline medium during the geopolymerization process, they will stay fixed. Thus, the obtained geopolymers could be expected to exert low environmental impact. The presented results revealed that studied copper mine tailing is a suitable precursor for geopolymerization.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%