WIT Press


Electroremediation Of Copper Mine Tailings

Price

Free (open access)

Volume

75

Pages

8

Published

2004

Size

300 kb

Paper DOI

10.2495/GEO040231

Copyright

WIT Press

Author(s)

H.K. Hansen, A. Rojo & L.M. Ottosen

Abstract

Mining activities are a key industry for many countries worldwide and especially in Chile where production and exportation of copper is crucial for the country’s economy. These activities have generated large amounts of solid waste, which have been deposited in mine tailing impoundments. These impoundments cause increased concern to the communities due to dam failures or natural leaching to groundwater and rivers. It seems to be of common interest that mine tailings should be treated in some way to minimize environmental risks. This work shows the laboratory results of three electrodialytic remediation experiments on copper mine tailings. The results showed that an electric current could remove copper. With the addition of sulphu

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