Abstract
Thirty-seven years of mining and processing of Cu-porphyry ore has been resulting in the production more than 540 million tons of waste tailings in Sarcheshmeh industrial complex, Iran's largest Cu producer. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the changes that occurred in the trace elements content of Sarcheshmeh mine tailings during the flotation desulfurization process. Desulfurization of fresh tailings was carried out using the conventional flotation method. Four samples were analyzed geochemically and mineralogically for each flotation test: rougher feed tailings (RFT), desulfurized tailings (DT), cleaner stage tailings (CT), and cleaned concentrate (CC). Geochemical results showed a remarkable decrease in the concentration of eighteen potentially toxic elements (S, Se, Ag, Mo, Te, Co, Bi, Fe, As, Cu, Cd, Sb, Pb, Ni, Cr, Zn, Zr and Yb) that showed high enrichments in the sulfide (pyrite) concentrate of the desulfurization process. The economical aspect concentrations of S (46.59 ± 1.84%), Fe (40.09 ± 1.87%), Cu (10,620 ± 3980 mg/kg) and Mo (1002 ± 457) were observed in the cleaned concentrate derived from Sarcheshmeh mine tailings. Other sulfide minerals, such as chalcopyrite, chalcocite, molybdenite, and covellite, as well as pyrite, were also identified in the cleaned concentrate of Sarcheshmeh mine tailings. Desulfurized tailings, which consisted on average 84.74 weight percent of the rougher feed tailings, were composed of silicate minerals (quartz, sericite, albite, chlorite, and orthoclase) that is technologically easier to reprocess and use for certain recycling applications. Desulfurized tailings showed slightly enrichment of Ce, Ba, Na, Sr, Al, Mn, P, Si, Nb, Ti, K, Nd, Be, Th, Eu, Sm, Ta, Pr, Tl, Rb, La, Mg, Cs, V, Sc, W and Gd in compared with the primary rougher feed tailings. In addition to the economical aspect, the desulfurization of Sarcheshmeh mine tailings could improve the quality of the tailings dam recycled water on a long-term basis and in the ʻʻintegrated tailings management” approach provided new opportunities for more environmentally friendly tailings management strategies.
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The professional editing and comprehensive reviews of an earlier version of the manuscript by the editor and two anonymous reviewers from the Journal of Environmental Earth Sciences are greatly appreciated. Dr. Sh. Samani is thanked for editing the first draft of the manuscript and her constructive suggestions.
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Khorasanipour, M., Karimabadi, F.R., Espahbodi, M. et al. The effect of flotation desulfurization on the trace element geochemistry of Sarcheshmeh mine tailings, SE of Iran: recycling and the environmental opportunities. Environ Earth Sci 80, 420 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-021-09615-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-021-09615-5