Study of Metals Leaching from Nonferrous Mine Tailings in Organic and Inorganic Extractants

ABSTRACT

Metals (Fe, Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb, Mn, Ba, Al and Sr) leaching from tailings resulted from non-ferrous ores processing was assessed using different organic (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid - EDTA, citric acid - C6H8O7, oxalic acid - C2H2O4, acetic acid – C2H4O2, succinic acid - C4H6O4) and inorganic (nitric acid – HNO3) extractants. The variation of metals leaching with the sampling depth (0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, 10-20 cm and 20-40 cm) was also studied. Generally, the highest leaching was obtained for Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, Al in C2H2O4 followed by Pb, Ba in EDTA and Sr, Mn in HNO3. The enrichment factor (EF), contamination factor (CF) and geoaccumulation index (Igeo) were calculated to reveal the pollution pattern. The EF revealed minor enrichment with Cr, very severe to extremely severe enrichment with Zn and Pb, moderate to moderately severe enrichment for Fe and Sr, and severe enrichment for Cu and Mn. The CF indicated low contamination with Al and Cr, moderate contamination with Fe and Sr, considerable contamination with Cu and Mn, very high contamination with Zn, Pb and considerable to very high contamination with Ba. Igeo showed no pollution with Cr, Fe, Sr, Al, moderate Mn and Cu pollution, moderate to heavy Ba pollution and heavy to extreme Pb and Zn pollution.

KEYWORDS

metals, tailings, batch leaching, organic acids, pollution indices

Cite this paper

Emilia Neag, Maria-Alexandra Hoaghia, Anamaria Török, Erika Levei, Marin Senila, Cecilia Roman. (2018) Study of Metals Leaching from Nonferrous Mine Tailings in Organic and Inorganic Extractants. International Journal of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Systems, 3, 42-49