RT Journal Article
T1 Mineral reactivity in sulphide mine wastes: influence of mineralogy and grain size on metal release
A1 Ruiz Cánovas, Carlos
A1 González de la Aleja Pérez, Carolina
A1 Macías Suárez, Francisco
A1 Pérez López, Rafael
A1 Basallote Sánchez, María Dolores
A1 Olías Álvarez, Manuel
A1 Nieto Liñán, José Miguel
AB The aqueous oxidation of sulphide minerals leads to the generation of acid mine drainage (AMD), one of the main causes of water pollution worldwide. Mineral reactivity is greatly enhanced as a result of extraction and processes such as blasting, crushing, and grinding that increase rock surface area. The exposition of sulphide mine wastes to atmospheric conditions enhances AMD generation. However, a large number of processes and factors (e.g., pH, redox conditions, aqueous and surface complexation reactions) may control the mobility of elements in solution. In particular, the formation of soluble secondary minerals may act as transient storage of metals and acidity during AMD generation, leading however to their release upon rainfalls. To study the influence of mineralogy and grain size on the metal release from a variety of sulphide mine wastes collected in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, different grain size samples were treated with distilled water (S:L ratio 1:10) for 24 h simulating rainfall weathering. Results reveal that grain size plays a major role on metal mobility from sulphide mine wastes. However, mineralogical and geochemical evidence points at the partitioning of highly soluble secondary minerals among grain size fractions as the key factor controlling the metal release rate from these wastes. The results obtained show the importance of grain size on the reliability of the different leaching test procedures, and thus encourage standardizing these procedures worldwide.
PB Copernicus Publications
SN 0935-1221
SN 1617-4011 (electrónico)
YR 2019
FD 2019
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10272/17281
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10272/17281
LA eng
NO Ruiz Cánovas, C., González de la Aleja, C., Macías Suárez, F., Pérez-López, R., Basallote Sánchez, M. D., Olías Álvarez, M., & Nieto Liñán, J. M. (2019). Mineral reactivity in sulphide mine wastes: influence of mineralogy and grain size on metal release. European Journal of Mineralogy, 31(2), 263–273. https://doi.org/10.1127/ejm/2019/0031-2843
NO The authors thank two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments that clearly improved the quality of the manuscript, and Associate Editor Encarnación Ruiz-Agudo and Chief Editor Carlos Rodriguez-Navarro for their handling. This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economic and Competitiveness through the projects CGL2016-78783-C2-1-R (SCYRE) and ERAMIN PCIN2015-242. C.R. Cánovas was funded by the Talent Consolidation Program of the University of Huelva. MD Basallote also thanks the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for the Postdoctoral Fellowship granted under application reference FJCI-2015-24765.
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 1 jun 2026