RT Journal Article
T1 Metal/loid release from cyanidation wastes in response to rainfalls
A1 Ruiz Cánovas, Carlos
A1 Macías Suárez, Francisco
A1 González de la Aleja Pérez, Carolina
A1 Pérez López, Rafael
A1 Nieto Liñán, José Miguel
AB Cyanide heap leach operations developed in Tharsis (SW Spain) from 1982 to 2001 left the legacy of a huge amount ofcyanidation wastes deposited over a total area of 47 ha without any type of isolation. The main goals of this work are to study therelease of metals and metalloids under rainfall occurrence and the potential impact on the aquatic life. A vertical profile wassampled in the leaching heap and the chemical and mineralogical composition of these wastes was analyzed. In addition, theresponse of these wastes to rainfalls was studied by leaching with water at different solid-liquid ratios. The cyanidation wastesare mainly composed by Fe oxides/oxyhydroxides (i.e. goethite and hematite), oxyhydroxysulfates (i.e. jarosite), and quartz aswell as gypsum in different levels. Although the alkaline conditions of the cyanidation wastes precluded the mobilization of mostmetals, some elements such as As, Zn, Ni and Pb showed concentrations which may pose a significant risk to aquatic life ifchronic exposure is maintained. For this reason, a safe disposal of these wastes is needed in order to reduce the release of metalsinto the environment.
PB Elsevier
SN 1878-5220
YR 2017
FD 2017
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10272/13672
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10272/13672
LA eng
NO Ruiz Cánovas, C., Macías Suárez, F., González de la Aleja Pérez, C., Pérez López, R., Nieto Liñán, J.M.: "Metal/loid release from cyanidation wastes in response to rainfalls". Procedia: Earth and Planetary Science. Vol. 17, págs. 436-439, (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.proeps.2016.12.110
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 30 may 2026