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Laboratory Evaluation of the Use of Alkaline Phosphate Wastes for the Control of Acidic Mine Drainage

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Abstract

Pyrrhotite tailings at the abandoned Kettara mine site in Morocco are producing acid mine drainage (AMD). We investigated the use of alkaline phosphate waste (APW) rock from a nearby operating open-pit phosphate mine to control the AMD. The neutralizing potential of the APW, using the Paktunc method, was estimated between 500 and 680 kg CaCO3/t. In laboratory column tests, the addition of 15 wt% APW to the coarse Kettara tailings produced leachates with significantly lower acidities and metal concentrations than unamended controls. The high calcium concentration in the flushed solutions indicates that calcite was responsible for the neutralization. Dolomite dissolution seems to be negligible and fluorapatite was stable under the testing conditions. It was also observed that when the treated solution comes in contact with unweathered Kettara coarse tailings, the pH becomes acidic, although the metal concentrations remain low.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the OCP group who provided the samples necessary for this study, Alexandre Marchi (Press photographer in Nancy, France) for permission to use his photographs of the mines, the Canada Research Chairs on the Restoration of Abandoned Mine Sites and the Integrated Management of Sulfide Mine Wastes, and the Unité de Recherche et de Service en Technologie Minérale (UQAT), for their financial and technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Équipe de Chimie des Matériaux et de l’Environnement, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Marrakech, Univ Cadi Ayyad, BP 549, 40000, Marrakech, Morocco

    Rachid Hakkou

  2. Univ du Québec en Abitibi Témiscamingue, 445 Boul de l’Université, Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, J9X 5E4, Canada

    Mostafa Benzaazoua & Bruno Bussière

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  1. Rachid Hakkou
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  2. Mostafa Benzaazoua
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  3. Bruno Bussière
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Correspondence to Rachid Hakkou.

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Hakkou, R., Benzaazoua, M. & Bussière, B. Laboratory Evaluation of the Use of Alkaline Phosphate Wastes for the Control of Acidic Mine Drainage. Mine Water Environ 28, 206–218 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10230-009-0081-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10230-009-0081-9

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