Suitability study of secondary raw materials for prevention of acid rock drainage generation from waste rock

Abstract

Prevention and mitigation of acid rock drainage (ARD) from mine wastes are crucial for limiting environmental impact. However, preventive measures are often too expensive, potentially harmful to the environment or not applied early enough. This study aimed to test the potential of different secondary raw materials for maintaining a circumneutral pH (6–7) in a sulfide oxidation environment, allowing secondary minerals to form on reactive sulfide surfaces to prevent release of acid, metals and metalloids, and thereby ARD generation. Five materials (blast furnace slag, granulated blast furnace slag, cement kiln dust, bark ash, lime kiln dust) were selected based on their alkaline properties, availability and yearly yield. High sulfidic (>50 wt%, sulfide) waste rock from an active Cu–Zn–Au–Ag open pit mine in northern Sweden was leached in small-scale laboratory test cells under ambient condition for 4–8 weeks before adding secondary raw materials on the surface in an attempt to prevent ARD generation. During 52 subsequent weeks of leaching, the pH and electrical conductivity in the leachate from the waste rock varied between 1.7-4.6 and 2.1–22.8 mS/cm, respectively. All secondary raw materials were able to increase the pH to circumneutral. However, blast furnace slag, granulated blast furnace slag and cement kiln dust were not able to maintain a circumneutral pH for an extended time due to self-cementation or carbonation, whereas bark ash (1 wt%) and lime kiln dust (5 wt%) prevented acidity, metal and metalloid leaching. Materials such as cement kiln dust and bark ash contained elevated concentrations of, e.g., Cd and Zn, but the release of metals and metalloids was generally low for most elements, except for Cl, K and Na, most likely due to salt dissolution.