Evaluación de la reactividad de sulfuros de hierro y residuos mineros: una metodología basada en la aplicación de la voltamperometría cíclica Evaluation of the reactivity of iron sulfides and mining wastes: methodology based on cyclic voltammetry

<abstract language="eng">The mining industry around the world produces an important amount of wastes, which by their high toxic metal and iron sulfide content present a serious environmental problem. Iron sulfide oxidation under weathering conditions provokes the main environmental p...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Roel Cruz y Marcos Monroy, Ignacio González
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Química 2006-06-01
Series:Química Nova
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-40422006000300020
Description
Summary:<abstract language="eng">The mining industry around the world produces an important amount of wastes, which by their high toxic metal and iron sulfide content present a serious environmental problem. Iron sulfide oxidation under weathering conditions provokes the main environmental problem of the mining industry, the generation of Acid Rock Drainage (ARD). Up to now the prediction methodologies do not allow the study of important factors that influence the generation of ARD, producing in some cases erroneous or uncertain conclusions. This paper shows the utilization of cyclic voltammetry using carbon paste electrodes (CPE-Mineral) as an alternative tool in the study of the oxidation capacity of iron sulfides and mining wastes. This electrochemical technique constitutes a novel methodology to establish and understand the factors involved during generation of ARD. Results of several studies including selected sulfide samples and sulfide mining wastes have been described in order to show the capacity of this methodology as a complementary tool in the prediction of the generation of ARD.
ISSN:0100-4042
1678-7064