Leaching of heavy metals from Dexing copper mine tailings pond

The wastewater source of 4# tailing pond in Dexing copper mine consists of alkaline flotation pulp and acid mine drainage (AMD) from the nearby opencast mine. Therefore, the heavy metals in tailing ore are very likely to be released due to acidification from AMD. The leaching behaviors of Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn in mine tailings from Dexing copper mine were investigated by a series of laboratory batch experiments. The effectcs of pH, temperature, particle size and contact time on the leachability of such heavy metals were examined. It was evident that Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn were major heavy metals in the tailings while gangue minerals like quartz were major constituents in examined tailings. The tailing dissolution reaction was controlled by the acid, whose kinetics could be expressed according to the heterogeneous reaction models and explained by a shrinking core model with the surface chemical reaction as the rate-controlling step. The leachability of all metals examined depended on pH and contact time. The batch studies indicated that the maximum leaching ratios of Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn at pH 2.0 were 5.4%, 5.8%, 11.1% and 34.1%, respectively. The dissolubility of all metals examined was positively correlated to the temperatures. The particle size would not change dissolution tendency of those heavy metals, but decrease the concentrations of leached heavy metals.