Pyrite mine waste

Carbonell-Barrachina, A.A., Rocamora, A., Garcia -Gomis, C. et al. (2004) Arsenic and zinc biogeochemistry in pyrite mine waste from the Aznalcollar environmental disaster. Geoderma, 122(2-4 SPEC. IIS.), 195-203. 

Davis, G. B. Ritchie, A. I. M. (1986) A model of oxidation in pyritic mine wastes 1 - Equations and approximate solution. Appl. Math. Modell. 10, 314-322. 

YanM E, Orlandea M (2000) Controlling acid drainage in a pyritic mine waste rock. Part II geochemistry of drainage. Water Air Soil Pollut 124 259-284 YanM EK, Payant SC (1992) Evaluation of techniques for preventing acidic rock drainage. 

When air-saturated surface waters infiltrate pyritic mine wastes, the dissolved oxygen (DO) is consumed by reaction with pyrite. 

Huininicki and Rimstidt (2009) suggested that treating pyritic mine wastes with bicarbonate solutions would produce an iron oxyhydroxide coating on the pyrite surfaces, which would inhibit the development of acid mine drainage. The overall reaction converts iron from the pyrite into an iron oxyhydroxide coating. 

In view of the content of sulfur present, which could for some soils be nutritionally beneficial, attempts have been made to find some agricultural use for pyrite mine waste [265-267]. This approach to the problem of supplying... 

Tuck (1993). in terms of mine wastes, pyritic mudstone roof strata removed from the mine as part of routine ripping operations were deposited in substantial spoil heaps at Shilbottle Grange Pit and (to a lesser extent) at Whittle. The highly visible pyrite content of the Shilbottle spoil earned the heap at that site the local sobriquet of the Brass Heap ( brass being a dialect name for pyrite). 

Mining wastes and overburden. Estonian kukersite oil shales occur in limestone strata (Schmidt 1858, 1881), yielding a carbonate-rich spoil with significant potential for acid neutralisation. Other oil shales, for example, the siliceous Estonian Dictyo-nema shales, which contain only traces of carbonate compared with the kukersites, are associated with sulphides, such as pyrite, and may thus generate acidic leachate due to pyrite oxidation (Puura Pihlak 1998 Puura et al. 1999). 

Nesbitt, H.W. and Muir, IJ. (1998) Oxidation states and speciation of secondary products on pyrite and arsenopyrite reacted with mine waste waters and air. Mineralogy and Petrology, 62, 123-44. 

The addition of calcium bases to acid-pyritic waste (e.g., mine waste) causes acid neutralization and produces certain metal-salts. For example, when CaC03 is intro-... 

A principal environmental concern associated with mine wastes results from the oxidation of sulfide minerals within the waste materials and mine workings, and the transport and release of oxidation products. The principal sulfide minerals in mine wastes are pyrite and pyrrhotite, but others are susceptible to oxidation, releasing elements such as aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, copper, mercury, nickel, lead, and zinc to the water flowing through the mine waste. 

The rate of abiotic pyrite oxidation declines as the pH decreases below 3.5. Under these conditions, bacterially mediated pyrite oxidation predominates. Numerous researchers have evaluated the use of bactericides, principally anionic surfactants, to prevent bacterial activity and limit the rate of sulfide oxidation. Bactericides can be applied either directly to mine-waste surfaces or as... 

Harries J. R. and Ritchie A. 1. M. (1987) The effect of rehabilitation on the rate of oxidation of pyrite in a mine waste-rock dump. Environ. Geochem. Health 9, 27—36. 

Common rock-forming element. Enriched in many rocks, ores, soils, mine wastes, smelter emissions, etc. Pyrite (an iron sulfide) is a source of readily available iron and occurs in many different rocks and ores. 

A few minerals produce acid when they contact water. These minerals can be described as salts of weak bases and strong acids. They chiefly result from weathering and oxidation of the pyrite or marcasite (FeS2) exposed in the mining of mineral deposits and coal. Such acid minerals, which are dominantly Fe sulfates and to a minor extent AP sulfates, typically form from the evaporation of pooled acid-mine waters or of the moisture in unsaturated mine wastes or spoils that contain the sulfides. Acidity is produced when they are dissolved by fresh runoff or recharge. For example... 

Usually base and precious metal sulfide deposits also have important amounts of pyrite. The pyrite in hydrothermal ore deposits is most often coarse grained and relatively unreactive. Mining and milling the rock to fine particle sizes for the purpose of metal extraction, vastly increases pyrite surface area and exposes the pyrite in waste-tailings piles to oxidation and weathering. Serious AMD releases can result. 

Acid mine waters are produced when pyrite and/or marcasite are important minerals in coal-mine wastes, or in Zn, Pb, and Cu metal sulfide ore wastes. The Zn, Pb, and Cu sulfides themselves do not produce important amounts of acidity, Why not Hint Write the weathering/oxidation reactions for the Zn, Pb, and Cu sulfides. 

The acidity production can develop many years after disposal, when the neutralizing or buffering capacity in a pyrite-containing waste is exceeded. High concentration factors have been determined in inland waters affected by acidic mine effluents. 

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