The valorization of tailings includes the utilization of the mineral matrix, as it contains mainly silica, and the recovery of residual metals, containing metals such as iron, copper, titanium, and many others
[5]. Depending on the ore and the process used to treat it, it is possible to recover valuable elements from mine tailings. For example, copper sulfide ores are treated by flotation to recover copper, so the produced tailings contain mainly silicon oxide and a variety of metals
[6]. In this regard, tailings may contain minerals such as quartz, orthoclase, magnetite, hematite, pyrite, and chalcopyrite, among others. Additionally, the total iron grade may be around 19%, due to their origin in the north of Chile
[7][8]. In addition, given that tailings have already been mined and crushed, the treatment costs are considerably lower than primary ores, turning tailings into an economic raw material
[5]. Therefore, studies have been made to use tailings as a construction material such as cement and to recover valuable elements such as iron through magnetic concentration and copper through bioleaching
[7][9][10]. This reprocessing of mine tailings by different technologies is being explored to make mining operations more sustainable
[11]. Acid leaching is widely used in mineral extraction and the recycling of valuable metals
[12]. Sulfuric acid is the best-known and most conventionally used leaching agent; however, some studies recommend hydrochloric acid since the presence of chloride ions is advantageous for copper extraction
[9][13][14]. In addition, many studies are focused on copper recovery from slags. Dimitrijević et al. worked with hydrochloric acid concentration below 2 M and combined it with hydrogen peroxide on copper slag samples
[15]. Chen et al. performed a similar study using, also with copper slag, an 11 M concentration of hydrochloric acid at temperatures above 80 °C
[13].
In the present research, we carried out the characterization of an iron-rich tailing and the extraction of metals through leaching. We focused on some interesting elements such as copper, aluminum, calcium and magnesium. If the tailing is submitted to acid treatment, e.g., with hydrochloric acid (HCl), a liquid solution and an insoluble solid will be generated. Both phases (liquid and solid) represent an opportunity to produce valuable secondary species
[16][17].
2. MCollection and Charaterials and Mcterization of the Tailing Samplethods
2.1. Characterization Equipment
For the sieving process, the sample was deposited into the following sieves set: #40, #50, #70, #100, #140, #200, #270 and #400 AST
M. Th
is set was shaken for 10 min using a Labtech Hebro Ro-Tap. For the Laser Diffraction analysis, a Malvern Mastersizer 2000 was employed with distilled water as dispersing agent.
For SEM-EDX, the e tailing sample was
depo
sited on a graphite sheet and the measurements were taken at 100× using a Zeiss EVO MA10 equipment (Carl Zeiss Pvt. Ltd., Oberkochen, Germany) with Oxford Instruments EDX detector model X-MaxN 20 SDN (Oxford Instruments, Abingdon, UK). The XRD analysis was performed on a Shimadzu LabX XRD-6100 equipment (Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan), using Cu Kα radiation (λ = 1.5406 Å) with graphite monochromator. The samples were mounted using acetone. The parameters were 30 kV of voltage and 20 mA of current. The scanning was performed using a theta–2theta drive axis, with a scan range from 10 to 120 degrees, at a speed of 2 degrees per minute. The sampling pitch was 0.02 degrees, and the preset time was 10 s for the tailing sample and 3 s for the insoluble solid.
2.2. Collection and Characterization of the Tailing Sample
The tailing sample was obtained from a tailing dam plabtained from a tailing dam placed in the north of Chile (
Figure 1a). The sample (
Figure 1b) was taken from the wall of the tailing dam using the trial pits technique. Then, this sample passed through a homogenization method considering rolling and quartering to obtain a representative sample. Subsequently, sieving was performed to analyze the size distribution and it was compared with a Laser Diffraction analysis. In addition, SEM-EDX and XRD analyses were performed to determine the tailing composition. Elements were determined with an AAS analysis.
Figure 1. (
a) Copper tailing dam in Vallenar, Chile
[18], and (
b) the tailing sample obtained.
2.3. Leaching Procedure
3. Leaching Procedure
The initial tailing sample was leached using a HCl solution. To perform the leaching, 1 g samples were weighed and deposited in round-bottom flasks, each of them with 250 mL of the prepared acid solution (3 M, 6 M, 9 M or 12 M). The mixture was stirred with a magnetic stirrer at 550 rpm under a controlled temperature, coupling the flask with a laboratory condenser tube. After the leaching time, the solution was vacuum filtered using a porous glass filter. The filtered liquid solution and the insoluble solid left in the filter were reserved for later analysis. This procedure was repeated changing the acid concentration, the reaction time, and the reaction temperature as shown in
Figure 2, where “C” is the acid concentration, “t” is time, and “T” is temperature. In addition, all combinations shown in
Figure 2 were performed twice. The dissolution times were 6 h, 16 h, and 62 h, a long enough time. The temperatures were 25 °C (considered as room temperature), 50 °C, 60 °C, and 70 °C. After finishing the experiments, the total iron, copper, aluminum, calcium, and magnesium concentrations in the filtered acid solution were determined by AAS. The insoluble solids were dried, at 65 °C, for 24 h to be analyzed with SEM-EDX and XRD.
Figure 2. Proposed method for acid dissolution.
34. Results
34.1. Tailing Sample Characterization
The particle size P80 was 221 ± 23 µm according to the granulometric analysis by sieving, and 216 ± 0.652 µm according to the Laser Diffraction analysis, meaning that 80% of the sample is approximately below an ASTM 60 mesh, corresponding to 250 µm (
Figure 3). The morphology and general composition of the tailing sample were identified by SEM-EDX, as seen in
Figure 4. At 100×, the tailing particles are irregular, and the composition is based on silicates and iron oxides. The XRD analysis, shown in
Figure 5, was applied to the tailing sample, revealing that the composition was mainly quartz (SiO
2), magnetite (Fe
3O
4), orthoclase (KAlSi
3O
8), and albite (NaAlSi
3O
8), confirming the SEM-EDX analysis. Through AAS, it was determined that the tailing contains a total iron grade of 19%.
Figure 3. Granulometry of the tailing sample using (a) sieving and (b) Laser Diffraction.
Figure 4. (a) SEM image and (b) EDX mapping of the tailing sample at 100× magnification.
Figure 5. XRD diffractogram of the tailing sample.
34.2. Acid Solution Characterization
The acid solutions obtained through leaching and posterior filtration were analyzed by AAS, giving the concentrations of total Fe, Cu, Al, Ca, and Mg. The combinations of acid concentration (C), time (t), and temperature (T) for each experiment, along with their results, are shown in
Table 1. The concentrations for each element of interest were calculated as the average between the doubled experiments. Therefore, the standard error was calculated.
Table 1. Average concentration and standard error associated of the elements obtained.
1 This combination was tripled.
34.3. Insoluble Solid Characterization
By SEM-EDX analysis, it was found that the solid samples had an irregular morphology composed mainly of silica with presence of several elements.
Figure 6 shows one of the insoluble solids obtained from a solution leached with HCl 9 M, at 25 °C, for 16 h. The grains are irregularly shaped and the elements are mostly homogeneously distributed in the sample.
Table 2 shows the elemental composition of the tailing sample and the insoluble solid sample obtained under the conditions of HCl 9 M, 25 °C, and 16 h of leaching, by EDX. Results show the weight percent of each element found.
Figure 7 shows the XRD of the sample obtained at 9 M, at 25 °C, for 16 h. The main phases in the sample are orthoclase (KAlSi
3O
8), quartz (SiO
2), and albite (NaAlSi
3O
8), matching the SEM-EDX analysis. In the same analysis, it is possible to observe peaks corresponding to other unidentified crystalline species marked with black circles. For further comparison between the tailing sample and the insoluble solid, an X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis was performed on both samples. The results are shown in
Table 3.