Abstract
Abstract - Gold mining and ore processing are activities of great economic importance. However, they are related to generation of extremely polluted effluents containing high concentrations of heavy metals and low pH. This study aims to evaluate the optimal conditions for gold mining effluent treatment by crossflow membrane filtration regarding the following variables: nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane types, feed pH and permeate recovery rate. It was observed that retention efficiencies of NF90 were similar to those of RO membranes though permeate fluxes obtained were 7-fold higher. The optimum pH value was found to be 5.0, which resulted in higher permeate flux and lower fouling formation. At a recovery rate above 40% there was a significant decrease in permeate quality, so this was chosen as the maximum recovery rate for the proposed system. We conclude that NF is a suitable treatment for gold mining effluent at an estimated cost of US$ 0.83/m³. Keywords : Gold mining effluent treatment; Nanofiltration (NF); Reverse Osmosis (RO); Feed pH; Permeate recovery rate.
Highlights
Gold mining and ore processing are activities of great economic importance
The gold ore extracted from an underground mine undergoes processing, and the concentrate is transferred to a pyrometallurgical processing unit
Membrane properties that affect retention capacity and fouling propensity differ from one membrane to another
Summary
Gold mining and ore processing are activities of great economic importance. Gold has been used in many different applications, from raw material for jewelry manufacturing and monetary reserve to more technological applications such as the production of catalysts and nanoparticles. Gold ore exploitation and processing bring forth environmental hazards that may go from natural habitat destruction to highly polluted effluent release that may contaminate the environment (Getaneh and Alemayehu, 2006). These effluents are usually treated by neutralization, precipitation and sedimentation (Akcil and Koldas, 2006; Correia, 2008; Langsch et al, 2012), other technologies such as anaerobic bioreactors (Wildeman et al, 2006), sorption (Acheampong and Lens, 2014; Magriotis et al, 2014), coagulation and flocculation (Oncel et al, 2013; Yan et al, 2012), and crystallization
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