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Mobility of as, Cu, Cr, and Zn from tailings covered with sealing materials using alkaline industrial residues: a comparison between two leaching methods

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Abstract

Different alkaline residue materials (fly ash, green liquor dregs, and lime mud) generated from the pulp and paper industry as sealing materials were evaluated to cover aged mine waste tailings (<1 % sulfur content, primarily pyrite). The mobility of four selected trace elements (Cr, Cu, Zn, and As) was compared based on batch and column leaching studies to assess the effectiveness of these alkaline materials as sealing agents. Based on the leaching results, Cr, Cu, and Zn were immobilized by the alkaline amendments. In the amended tailings in the batch system only As dramatically exceeded the limit values at L/S 10 L/kg. The leaching results showed similar patterns to the batch results, though leached Cr, Cu, and Zn showed higher levels in the column tests than in the batch tests. However, when the columns were compared with the batches, the trend for Cu was opposite for the unamended tailings. By contrast, both batch and column results showed that the amendment caused mobilization of As compared with the unamended tailings in the ash-amended tailings. The amount of As released was greatest in the ash column and decreased from the dregs to the lime columns. The leaching of As at high levels can be a potential problem whenever alkaline materials (especially for fly ash) are used as sealing materials over tailings. The column test was considered by the authors to be a more informative method in remediation of the aged tailings with low sulfur content, since it mimics better actual situation in a field.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Swedish Research Council for the Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS ID 2011-268-19774-35); the European Union Structural Funds; the Northern Sweden Soil Remediation Centre, EDF Objective 2, Contract MCN IO No 43173; the Sveriges Ingenjör Environmental Fund; and the Centre of Advanced Mining and Metallurgy (CAMM) for the financial support.

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  1. Division of Geosciences and Environmental Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, SE-971 87, Luleå, Sweden

    Yu Jia, Christian Maurice & Björn Öhlander

  2. Department of Environment and Mineral Resources, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, 3900, Nuuk, Greenland

    Yu Jia

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  1. Yu Jia
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Correspondence to Yu Jia.

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Jia, Y., Maurice, C. & Öhlander, B. Mobility of as, Cu, Cr, and Zn from tailings covered with sealing materials using alkaline industrial residues: a comparison between two leaching methods. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 648–660 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5300-2

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