A quantitative approach to the influence of pyrite separation on Cu-processing tailings: a case study at Reps, Mirdita district, Albania

Fantone, Irene; Grieco, G.; Sinojmeri, Agim; Cavallo, Alessandro

doi:10.1007/s12665-017-7078-7

Cited by 3 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Abandoned mines: study of the beneficiation process during all mine lifetime in order to assess if and when single or double flotation were in exercise; on the basis of historical data and dumps sampling study the distribution of low and high sulfide tailings according to the procedures of Fantone et al [21] and plan environmental treatment actions accordingly.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The northern Albania copper mining district was chosen as a case study because, due to its industrial policy, this country was one of the last to abandon sulfuric acid production from pyrite, so the transition can be studied in recent and present-day tailings. Moreover, strongly different tailings due to changes in the flotation process have already been described at the abandoned Reps beneficiation plant in the same copper mining district [21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…The authors showed a correlation between river sediment metal pollution and mining activity, even though they do not infer the relative proportion of pollution to be attributed to the mines and to the plants. The recent work of Fantone et al [21] on the Reps tailing dumps, where an abandoned separation plant was operative in the last decades, was addressed to define AMD from the tailings. Their results show the presence of two different materials in the dumps: high and a low sulfide tailings, whose distribution within the dump follows irregular patterns.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The authors infer, on the basis of the little information available on the operating conditions, that low and high sulfide tailings were produced by single and double flotation, respectively: the former separating only a chalcopyrite concentrate and the latter a chalcopyrite and a pyrite concentrate. The present work was planned as a continuation of that of Fantone et al [21] in order to confirm the reason for the highly variable acid potential and to clarify the different contributions of single and double flotation tailings, exploiting the opportunity to sample an active plant where the two different tailings have been stocked separately.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Environmental Impact Variability of Copper Tailing Dumps in Fushe Arrez (Northern Albania): The Role of Pyrite Separation during Flotation

et al. 2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Acid mine drainage and potentially toxic elements release are a major source of pollution in sulfide-rich mining sites. Pyrite is the most impacting mineral due to its high acidification potential when it reacts with water under oxidizing conditions. At the Fushe Arrez dressing plant in Northern Albania, a volcanic massive sulfide copper mining district, pyrite was in past separated, with a double flotation process, to produce a pyrite concentrate and relatively-pyrite-poor tailings. In the last twenty years single flotation has replaced the double flotation process and pyrite has been deposited in pyrite-rich tailings stacked separately from the old ones. The study of the solid tailing materials and natural waters flowing through the dumping area, together with leaching tests show that waters interacting with single flotation tailings are slightly more acidic and much higher in total metal contents than those interacting with double flotation tailings. Also, the metal distribution is different, with the former being higher in sulfide-hosted metals and the latter higher in gangue-hosted metals. It is thus suggested that separation of pyrite can play an important role in the sustainable mining of pyrite-rich ores, either for dumping high hazardous pyrite concentrate separately or for marketing it as a by-product. An implementation of studies for the industrial uses of pyrite is pivotal in this last case.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Environmental Impact Variability of Copper Tailing Dumps in Fushe Arrez (Northern Albania): The Role of Pyrite Separation during Flotation

et al. 2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In addition to several other factors affecting AMD, the specific enrichment procedure can play a major role in the potential acidity of dumped tailings. Previous studies show that a different combination of flotation processes results in tailings with quite different environmental impact [16,17] and with high but still variable acidification capacity as a response to leaching tests [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Buffering Copper Tailings Acid Mine Drainage: Modeling and Testing at Fushë Arrëz Flotation Plant, Albania

Cocomazzi

Grieco

Sinojmeri

et al. 2022

Water

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The beneficiation process of sulfide ores has the inevitable consequence of generating huge amounts of tailings highly enriched in sulfur, thus inducing acid mine drainage (AMD) and the release of potentially toxic elements. The aim of the work was to define the most suitable procedures for buffering acid drainage waters through the addition of commercial CaCO3 paste, provided by UNICALCE. High- and low-pyrite tailing samples were collected at the copper enrichment plant of Fushë Arrëz (Northern Albania copper mining district). They were used for leaching and buffering tests, whose leachates and precipitation products were characterized by ICP-MS, chromatographic, XRD and TEM analyses. In addition, a geochemical model was developed in order to predict the pH trend of the leachate as a function of the addition of CaCO3. The results show the good buffering capacity of CaCO3, accurately predicted by the geochemical model. A drastic reduction in metals in the solution can be easily attained for low-pyrite samples, whereas high amounts of buffering agent are required to reach similar metals concentration reduction in high-pyrite. Precipitates are dominated by oxyhidroxides, followed by sulfates and hydrosilicates, but TEM showed also the presence of nanocrystalline and amorphous phases.

show abstract

Recycling Feldspar Mining Waste as Buffering Agent for Acid Mine Drainage Mitigation

Grieco,

Cocomazzi,

Naitza

et al. 2024

Minerals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Acid mine drainage (AMD) prevention or remediation is a major issue of the environmental management of sulfide-bearing active and abandoned mining sites, the main sources of acidic waters being wastes and tailings. The present work intends to check a circular economy approach to such issues in the mining region of Sardinia, where environmental pollution, due to AMD, is a major concern. Tests were conducted on basic drainage-producing feldspar mining wastes that could be recycled as buffering agents of sulfide-bearing tailings. Among the sulfide-bearing abandoned mining sites investigated, Furtei epithermal gold deposit tailings are the most polluting and those that can better test the buffering agent efficacy. Buffering test results show that buffering to near-neutral conditions can be attained following steps similar to those of pure calcite buffer. The buffering potential of the recycled waste is due to both the buffer calcite content, which provides short-term buffering, enhanced by feldspar content that can provide long-term buffering. Buffered waters show a dramatic decrease in the concentration of most of the metals present in the leachate, down to conditions that meet the requirements for the discharge of industrial waters according to Italian legislation.

show abstract

A quantitative approach to the influence of pyrite separation on Cu-processing tailings: a case study at Reps, Mirdita district, Albania

Cited by 3 publications

References 11 publications

Environmental Impact Variability of Copper Tailing Dumps in Fushe Arrez (Northern Albania): The Role of Pyrite Separation during Flotation

Environmental Impact Variability of Copper Tailing Dumps in Fushe Arrez (Northern Albania): The Role of Pyrite Separation during Flotation

Buffering Copper Tailings Acid Mine Drainage: Modeling and Testing at Fushë Arrëz Flotation Plant, Albania

Recycling Feldspar Mining Waste as Buffering Agent for Acid Mine Drainage Mitigation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About