Heavy metal release and acid generation during the oxidation of sulfide waste rock induced by ferric iron

Abstract

As aby-product of waste rock from sulfide ore, Fe3+ is one of the important factors that promote acid production and heavy metals release from waste rock pile fields. In this paper, the dynamic leaching tests were conducted to investigate the behavior of acid generation and heavy metal release from the sulfide waste rock of Dexing copper mine under different Fe3+ concentrations. The Sulphur content in the waste rock samples was 3.56 % and the net acid production potential (NAPP) reached 47.95 kg·t−1 H2SO4. Under the oxidation of 600 mg·L-1 Fe3+, the pH value of the leaching system decreased to 5.53, which is 1.85 units lower than that of the control check group (CK). However, the quantity of SO42- in the leachate was reduced by 41.81 % compared to the CK group, as the jarosite precipitation was more likely to form under high Fe3+ conditions. The oxidation of Fe3+ effectively accelerated the release of heavy metals from the waste rock. In addition, the heavy metals release quantity gradually increased with the increase of the Fe3+ concentration, with the maximum release quantities of Cu, Pb, Zn, and As of 569.69, 333.75, 222.69, and 31.11 μg·kg−1, respectively, which increased by 27.66 %-129.60 % compared to the CK group. The release of SO42-, Cu, Pb, and Zn was controlled by the combined internal diffusion and the chemical reaction, while the release of As was best fitted to the interfacial chemical reaction-controlled model. The SEM analysis showed that the waste rock near the top of the column was strongly corroded, resulting in the increase of the specific surface area of the waste stone by 24.48 %. The re-precipitation reaction of heavy metals mainly occurred near the bottom of the leaching column. Leaching under Fe3+ oxidation caused a decrease in the proportion of residual heavy metals in the waste rock, which will lead to the easier release of heavy metals.