Study on the precipitation of iron and the synchronous removal mechanisms of antimony and arsenic in the AMD under the induction of carbonate rocks

Abstract

The ecological environment can be severely polluted and destroyed by the acid mine drainage (AMD) generated during the exploration and utilization of minerals. However, neutralized by carbonate rocks (a natural material in Karst regions), the AMD secondary iron flocs containing a large number of iron oxides or hydroxide can be precipitated in AMD. The metal ions, such as antimony (Sb) and arsenic (As), can be effectively removed by these neutralizing products. In this paper, the neutralization reaction of different acid solutions in an iron-antimony-arsenic system was induced by carbonate rocks to explore the removal effect of metals during this neutralization process. Meanwhile, taking the release amounts of iron (Fe), Sb, and As as well as the phase transformation of minerals at different pH levels as stability indexes, we quantitatively analyzed the chemical stability of AMD neutralizing products (secondary iron flocs) containing Sb and As under the typical acid-base environment (pH = 3.0 ~ 9.0) of AMD and other waters. Results showed that the neutralization reaction with carbonate rocks induced the co-precipitation of Fe with Sb and As. When the concentration ratio of Fe, Sb, and As was 30:1:1, the pH of AMD raised from 3.0 to 7.28 within 72 h, and the three elements were removed by 99%, 85%, and 90%, respectively. After soaking the AMD secondary iron flocs in an acid environment (pH = 3.0) for 30 days, the release amount of Fe reached its peak of 0.070 mg/g. Then, when the pH value increased to 4.0, the As and Sb showed their maximum release amounts of 14.90 µg/g and 19.19 µg/g, respectively. In addition, under acidic conditions, these AMD secondary iron flocs were easily transformed into the goethite with better crystallinity and higher structural stability. This study could help reveal the development of the secondary mineral during the treatment of AMD by carbonate rocks and understand the release characteristics of metals from AMD secondary products containing Sb and As, which sheds light on and provides theoretical foundations for the passive treatment of AMD containing these two elements in the future.

Keywords: Acid mine drainage; Antimony; Arsenic; Carbonate rock; Precipitate.