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The potential use of serpentinite in the passive treatment of acid mine drainage: batch experiments

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

The efficiency of serpentinite as an alternative alkalinity generating material for the passive treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD) was assessed in the laboratory. Three series of batch experiments were designed for the passive treatment of a low pH (1.6) AMD synthetic solution containing 2,500 ppm Fe2+, 6,600 ppm SO 2−4 , 10.5 ppm Al, 15 ppm Ni, and traces of Cr, Mn and Cu. The influencing factors studied were: the effect of water/rock ratio, residence time, type of the alkalinity generating material (dolomite, magnesite, marble, serpentinite), and nature of the system (open vs. closed cells). The variations in solution chemistry observed in the open cells indicate that a lower water/rock ratio (0.33 ml/g) was the most efficient for metals removal. The optimal residence time in open cells was 24 h to reach the higher pH values. In the closed cells laboratory setup, synthetic AMD was placed in contact with the various alkaline materials for three different contact times (24, 48, 72 h). The optimal pH was reached after 48 h and did not change appreciably for longer contact time, and the best results for metal removals were obtained with marble and serpentinite. Single treatment efficiency was compared with a successive treatment approach. The most promising results were obtained with a five step treatment: (1) pre-treatment in a closed cell using serpentinite, (2) aeration and settling, (3) treatment in an open cell using marble, (4) final aeration and settling, and (5) filtration with a coarse silica sand. With this configuration, the final pH was 6.5 and pronounced metals depletion was achieved (100% for Al, 99.95% for Fe, 85.7% for Ni).

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the NSERC Polytechnique-UQAT Industrial Chair on Environment and Mine Wastes http://www.enviro-geremi.polymtl.ca/. I would like to thank C. Dallaire and E. Bélanger of École Polytechnique and J. Groleau and L. Mongeon from Noranda Technology Centre for their technical assistance. Luc St-Arnaud and Robert Prairie from Noranda Inc.—Falconbridge provided helpful comments. A thorough review of this paper was done by professor emeritus Wallace H. MacLean from McGill University. Comments from an anonymous reviewer were helpful and greatly appreciated.

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  1. NSERC Chair on Environment and Mine Waste Management, Department Civil-Geological and Mining Engineering, École Polytechnique de Montréal, P.O. Box 6079, Station Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H3C 3A7

    Louis R. Bernier

  2. Geoberex Research, 236, 24th Avenue, L’Ile Perrot, Québec, Canada, J7V 4M9

    Louis R. Bernier

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Correspondence to Louis R. Bernier.

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Bernier, L.R. The potential use of serpentinite in the passive treatment of acid mine drainage: batch experiments. Environ Geol 47, 670–684 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-004-1195-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-004-1195-9

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