Results of Research into the Content of Rare Earth Materials in Man-Made Phosphogypsum Deposits

Abstract

According to the materials of the Rivne exploration expedition in Rivne region more than 15.3 million tons of phosphogypsum materials in rock dumps are stored. For further use and recycling of waste, it is necessary to evaluate the content of rare earth elements in phosphogypsum, which are of considerable economic value. The possible recycling of this production will increase the level of environmental safety through the use of more reliable engineering systems for the environmentally safe storage of phosphogypsum rock dumps. The migration of phosphorus, fluorine, sulfur, copper, chromium, manganese, zinc, lead, cadmium, iron, nickel and cobalt along the profile of the artificial ground cross-section was investigated experimentally. The results of studies confirmed the increased accumulation of metal in the phosphogypsum rock dumps. Analyzing the content of nickel, lead, sulfur, manganese, cobalt and zinc in experimental samples, we observe the distribution pattern, the content of which in samples is 2 – 3 times higher than the content of trace elements of the above-mentioned groundwater deposits. The results of the sorption and desorption of nickel, lead, sulfur, manganese, cobalt and zinc indicate that the rock is not an obstacle to the migration of trace elements and its aggregates in the rock and is observed only in the zone of full water saturation due to the filling of pore space. The conducted researches established the presence of phosphogypsum in man-made wastes of nickel, lead, cobalt, zinc, iron with a percentage content up to 1% per ton of rock waste.