Abstract
The acid mine drainage (AMD) formed during copper mining and smelting has a low pH, high sulfate concentration, and large amounts of valuable metals such as Fe, Cu, and Mn. In order to achieve step-by-step recovery of these resources, it is necessary to first remove high concentrations of iron from the wastewater. In this study, chemical oxidation technology was applied to establish a 12 m3/d pilot-scale treatment process to precipitate high-concentration iron (510.3 ± 50 mg/L) under acidic conditions. The experimental results showed that the Fe2+ oxidation rate and TFe (total Fe) removal rate exceeded 99%, while the loss of Cu and Mn did not exceed 4%. The average Fe content of the recovered sludge was 26.85%, which signifies good recycling value. In addition, an economic analysis showed that this method was 14 cents cheaper per m3 than the traditional lime neutralization method for treating AMD, which would result in large annual savings for sludge treatment costs.
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