Assessment of two kinetic tests to predict the acid mine drainage in waste rock samples of a uranium mine

Rem: Revista Escola de Minas

Adriana Trópia De Abreu²  Efigênia Miranda De Faria¹  Carla Thamilis Fonseca Chaves¹  Adilson Do Lago Leite¹  Jorge Carvalho De Lena¹ 

[1] ,Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto Departamento de Geologia

关键词: acid mine drainage;    leaching columns;    Soxhlet extractor;    Drenagem ácida de mina;    coluna de lixiviação;    extrator Soxhlet;    estéril de mineração de urânio;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0370-44672014000100016

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Acid mine drainage is the result of the oxidation process of sulfide bearing rocks. This process occurs when the sulfide material is exposed to atmospheric conditions. Under these conditions, successive oxidation reactions yield sulfuric acid generating acidic waters. This problem becomes more serious when the surrounding rocks are not able to neutralize the acid. The low pH condition of the drained water accelerates the solubility process of solid materials (rocks, soils and sediments) and favors metal and metalloid leaching making them available to the environment, which impairs the hydric system quality. This is a quite common situation at abandoned mines where the material is exposed, as at theOsamu Utsumi Mine in Caldas, MG. The main goal of this work was to assess and compare two kinetic tests in an attempt to predict the acid generation from the waste rock of the Osamu Utsumi Mine. The tests were carried out using a Soxhlet extractor and a leaching column. The leachate from the two tests was analyzed for the physical-chemical parameters (pH, Eh and electric conductivity) and metals and metalloids.

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