EVALUATION OF PYRITIC TAILINGS FROM A COPPER CONCENTRATION PLANT FOR CALCAREOUS SODIC SOIL RECLAMATION

2014-01-01
TOZSİN, Gülşen
Arol, Ali İhsan
ÇAYCI, GÖKHAN
This study was aimed to investigate the feasibility to use waste pyrite and sulphuric acid produced from waste pyrite for the reclamation of calcareous sodic soils. The final aim is to displace Na from an exchange complex and replace it with Ca, leading to a decrease in pH and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) and an improvement of soil structure. A fertility of the soil may also be enhanced by this technique since waste pyrite can be rich in several micronutrients. An additional advantage to this strategy is that waste pyrite is inexpensive and readily available in large quantities, by contrast to gypsum. In this study, column-leaching tests were carried out to evaluate a change in soil properties upon addition of gypsum and pyritic tailing amendments from a copper concentration plant. An availability of essential micronutrients for a plant growth (Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn) and hazardous potential of pyritic tailings in terms of heavy metal contamination were taken into account. Gypsum, powder waste pyrite and sulfuric acid produced from waste pyrite were applied to the soil with reference to the gypsum requirement (GR) of the soils. The results showed that application of waste pyrite with a dose of 44.74 megagrams per ha was superior to gypsum of 55.20 Mg/ha dose in terms of exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) in 42 weeks. In addition, application of all the concentrations of sulfuric acid produced from waste pyrite also decreased the ESP values. The best values with sulfuric acid were obtained with a dose of 35.31 Mg/ha in 26 weeks. It was observed that the content of all micronutrients in the soil increased significantly (P<0.01) with waste pyrite and sulfuric acid applications. The levels of the micronutrients after treatments can be classified sufficient for the plant growth except for the iron level with the minimum dose of sulfuric acid application 17 Mg/ha. The heavy metal content in the soil after treatment with the pyritic tailings was found to be lower than the legal limit values. Thus, waste pyrite can be effectively used since rapid amelioration of calcareous sodic soils is possible with no deleterious heavy metal contamination.
PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROBLEMS OF MINERAL PROCESSING

Suggestions

Evaluation of a compacted bentonite/sand seal for underground waste repository isolation
Akgün, Haluk; AKTÜRK, ÖZGÜR (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2006-06-01)
This study investigates the performance of an optimum compacted bentonite/sand mixture seal for the isolation of underground waste repositories. Engineering geological tests such as compaction, flow, swelling, mechanical and shear strength tests have been conducted to select an optimum mixture and to recommend a stable bentonite/sand seal length-to-radius ratio (L/a) as far as the factor of safety (F) is concerned. The results of the compaction permeameter tests led to a recommendation to select an optimum ...
Hydrochloric acid pressure-oxidation of a pyrite concentrate from the Vaal Reefs East Gold Mine
Topkaya, Yavuz Ali (1999-04-01)
The extraction of refractory gold from pyrite concentrate by hydrochloric acid pressure oxidation was investigated on laboratory scale. The aim was for direct solubilization of refractory gold by chloride pressure-leaching without cyanidation.
Geotechnical Assessment of Compacted Sand Bentonite Mixtures to be Utilized in Underground Nuclear Waste Repositories and Barrier Design
Akgün, Haluk; Koçkar, Mustafa Kerem (2016-07-01)
This study assesses the mechanical and hydrological performance of compacted sand bentonite mixtures to be utilized in sealing underground nuclear waste repositories. In order to assess the performance of this material and to obtain an optimum sand bentonite mixture, a variety of laboratory tests, namely, compaction, falling head permeability, swelling, unconfined compression and shear strength tests were performed on sand bentonite mixtures possessing bentonite contents ranging from 5% to 15%. Sand bentoni...
Investigation of adsorption of pesticides by organo-zeolite from wastewater
Lüle, Güzide Meltem; Atalay, M Ümit; Özbayoğlu, Gülhan; Department of Mining Engineering (2011)
The aim of this study was to determine the adsorption capacity of activated carbon and organo-zeolites for removal of pesticides in water. In order to prepare organo-zeolite, two kinds of cationic surfactants, namely, hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (HTAB) and dodecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB) were used. Adsorption studies of cationic surfactant on zeolite were investigated in respect to initial concentration of cationic surfactant, time, and temperature. It has been found that the best fitted is...
Acid curing and baking of bastnaesite ore and concentrate
Topkaya, Yavuz Ali (1999-01-01)
In this study, the hydrometallurgical evaluation of a rare earth ore as well as a concentrate obtained from this ore was done in the laboratory. For the mentioned study, a bastnaesite type rare earth ore located in Beylikahir in Turkey was used. The total rare earth oxide (REO) content of the deposit was estimated to be 1 million tons with an average concentration of 3.42% REO. The rare earths were contained in bastnaesite mineral. The other constituents of the ore were calcium fluoride (52.5%), barite (25....
Citation Formats
G. TOZSİN, A. İ. Arol, and G. ÇAYCI, “EVALUATION OF PYRITIC TAILINGS FROM A COPPER CONCENTRATION PLANT FOR CALCAREOUS SODIC SOIL RECLAMATION,” PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROBLEMS OF MINERAL PROCESSING, pp. 693–704, 2014, Accessed: 00, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/34906.