Prevention of acid rock drainage formation through pyrite inhibition by silica coating.

ABSTRACT: Passive treatment of acid rock drainage (ARD) is a sustainable approach to control ARD, with sulfide inhibition by silica being a promising alternative. In a small-scale column leaching, a total of four cells loaded with pyritic waste rock (11 wt% S) from an operating Cu mine in Sweden were kept in a climatic chamber at a controlled temperature and humidity. The waste rock was leached for 11 weeks before treatment using alkaline silicate solution was applied, without pH buffer and adjuster. One cell was left untreated, whereas the others were treated with silicate solution as a source of dissolved silica, with and without H₂O₂ pre-oxidation. The pH in silica-treated cells generated leachate with circumneutral pH until the end of the leaching cycle, whereas sulfide oxi

SUBMITTER: Butar Butar DC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11928364 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature