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.

Recycling Feldspar Mining Waste as Buffering Agent for Acid Mine Drainage Mitigation / G. Grieco, G. Cocomazzi, S. Naitza, M. Bussolesi, M.L. Deidda, E.S. Ferrari, E. Destefanis. - In: MINERALS. - ISSN 2075-163X. - 14:6(2024 May 27), pp. 552.1-552.19. [10.3390/min14060552]

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

G. Grieco
Primo
Conceptualization
;
G. Cocomazzi
Secondo
;
M. Bussolesi;E.S. Ferrari
Penultimo
;
2024

Abstract

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.
acid mine drainage; buffering; feldspar; Sardinia;
Settore GEO/09 - Georisorse Miner.Appl.Mineral.-Petrogr.per l'amb.e i Beni Cul
Settore GEO/08 - Geochimica e Vulcanologia
   Mineral Reactivity in Large-scale Processes (MiReLaP)
   MiReLaP
   MINISTERO DELL'ISTRUZIONE E DEL MERITO
   2017L83S77_003

   Assegnazione Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2023-2027 - Dipartimento di SCIENZE DELLA TERRA "ARDITO DESIO"
   DECC23_020
   MINISTERO DELL'UNIVERSITA' E DELLA RICERCA
27-mag-2024
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/1058328
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