Arsenic and antimony immobilization from mineral processing solutions and waste waters

矿产资源开采和采矿活动的增加增加了对环境的压力，因此必须制定适当的水/废物管理程序。砷和锑是采矿活动中通常释放到环境中的有毒元素。西北地区巨人矿金矿的采矿作业于1948年至2004年期间进行，已产生23.7万吨三氧化二砷粉尘。三氧化二砷溶于水，污染了周围地区的土壤和建筑物。在另一起案件中，在巴尔默敦坎贝尔矿的尾矿孔隙水(地下水)中检测到砷含量高达100毫克/L。这一砷含量比加拿大饮用水质量标准可接受的最高砷含量0.010 mg/L高出10,000倍。*随着高品位和清洁矿藏越来越难找到，需要开发工艺，以更安全、更环保的方式提取复杂的砷和含锑矿体、矿物和金属。这对加拿大采矿业的持续财务可持续性至关重要，采矿业是加拿大经济的最大雇主。如果不进一步开发用于有毒元素管理的可靠解决方案，复杂矿体的处理是不可能的。需要开发能够将有毒元素固定(沉淀)为安全、无毒和稳定的化合物的工艺。特别是，这些沉淀物必须具有数千年的长期环境稳定性。*申请人建议建立一个研究项目，研究砷和锑的固定化过程。这项研究计划的长期目标是全面了解采矿过程中这两种元素的化学组成，以及环境中含砷和含锑沉淀物的长期稳定性。在今后五年内，即短期目标中，提议对砷和锑的氧化机理有扎实的了解，调查通过可持续生物氧化和生物沉淀过程固定砷的可行性，制定可靠的砷和锑沉淀物长期稳定性评估方案，并编制一份全球最稳定的砷和锑化合物/沉淀物清单，作为采矿业工艺选择/开发的参考文件。预计通过这一研究计划开发的知识和HQP将受到加拿大采矿业的高度追捧。两名博士生和两名硕士生将接受第一轮为期5年的研究计划的培训。

The increased extraction of mineral resources and mining activities have added pressure on the environment, therefore it is imperative that proper processes for water/waste management are developed. Arsenic and antimony are among the toxic elements which are usually released into the environment from mining activities. The mining operations at the Giant Mine gold mine in the Northwest Territories, which was operated from 1948 to 2004, have created 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide dust. Arsenic trioxide is soluble in water and has contaminated soil and buildings in the surrounding area. In another case, arsenic concentrations of up 100 mg/L were detected in the tailing porewater (underground water) of Campbell Mine, Balmertown, ON. This arsenic level is 10,000 times higher than the maximum acceptable arsenic level by Canadian drinking water quality standard, which is 0.010 mg/L.******As high grade and clean deposits are becoming more difficult to find, there is a need for the development of processes to extract complex arsenic and antimony-containing orebodies, minerals and metals in a safer, more environmentally sustainable manner. This is essential for the continued financial sustainability of the Canadian mining industry, the largest employer of the Canadian economy. Processing of complex orebodies is not possible without further development of robust solutions for the management of toxic elements. There is a need for development of processes that can immobilize (precipitate) the toxic elements as safe, non-toxic and stable compounds. In particular, the precipitates must have long term environmental stability for thousands of years. ******The applicant proposes to establish a research program to study the arsenic and antimony immobilization processes. The long-term goals of this research program are to develop a comprehensive understanding of the chemistry of the two elements in the mining processes, and the long-term stability of the arsenic and antimony-containing precipitates in the environment. During the next five years, i.e. short-term objectives, it is proposed to generate a solid knowledge of the arsenic and antimony oxidation mechanisms, investigate the feasibility of arsenic immobilization through sustainable bio-oxidation and bio-precipitation processes, develop a reliable protocol for long-term stability assessment of arsenic and antimony precipitates, and generate a global list of most stable arsenic and antimony compounds/precipitates, to be used as a reference document for process selection/development by the mining industry. It is expected that the knowledge, and HQP developed through this research program will be highly sought after by the Canadian mining industry. Two Ph.D. students and two Master's students will be trained through the first 5-year round of this research program.