The aim of this study was to extract nickel and cobalt from the lateritic nickel ores of G&ouml / rdes region by hydrometallurgical methods under the optimum conditions. Limonitic and nontronitic types of G&ouml / rdes lateritic nickel ores were used during experiments. Agitative and column leaching experiments at atmospheric pressure were conducted with various parameters / these were duration, temperature and initial sulfuric acid concentration of leach solution. It was shown that in agitative leaching, under the optimum conditions that were determined as 24 hours of leaching at 95&deg / C with initial sulfuric acid concentration of 192.1 g/L for nontronite and 240.1 g/L for limonite, nickel and cobalt extractions were 96.0% and 63.4% for nontronite / 93.1% and 75.0% for limonite, respectively. Overall acid consumptions of ores were calculated as 669 kg H2SO4/ton dry ore for nontronitic type nickel ore and 714 kg H2SO4/ton dry ore for limonitic type nickel ore. Column leaching experiments also showed that nickel and cobalt could be extracted from both ore types by heap leaching. Nontronite type of laterite was found to be more suitable for column leaching by sulfuric acid. In column leaching, the calculated nickel and cobalt extractions were 83.9% and 55.2% for nontronite after 122 days of leaching with 100 g/L sulfuric acid concentration. Acid consumption of nontronite was found to be 462 kg H2SO4/ton dry ore.

Pyrite (FeS2) is commonly present in complex sulphide ores in significant amounts. After the enrichment of such ores by flotation, pyrite is either produced as a separate concentrate and sold to acid manufactures or removed and disposed off as tailing. Due to lack of demand from manufacturers, most of pyrites is usually disposed off as tailing. Therefore, pyrite is usually a waste from complex sulphide ores. Yet, it may be a remediation additive for calcareous soils and calcareous- alkali soils deficient in Fe and other micronutrients such as Cu, Zn and Mn. Waste pyrite may be also an alternative amendment to gypsum because of the production of sulphuric acid which is effectively used in the reclamation of calcareous alkali soils. The effectiveness of adding waste pyrite and sulphuric acid produced from waste pyrite to calcareous-alkali soil (Sarayk&ouml / y-Ankara) and calcareous soil (Gaziantep) was studied under laboratory conditions. Pure gypsum was also used as an amendment for the comparison of the effectiveness of waste pyrite in the reclamation of alkali soils. Gypsum, powder waste pyrite and sulphuric acid were applied to the soil with reference to the gypsum requirement (GR) of the soils. Greenhouse pot tests were carried out with wheat as test plant to determine the effect of waste pyrite treatment on the plant yield (wheat) and on the amount of micronutrient (Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn) essential for plant growth. Hazard potential of pyritic tailings in terms of heavy metal contamination was also taken into account. The results showed that the soil pH and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), indicators of alkalization, decreased upon pyrite addition to calcareous- alkali soils of Sarayk&ouml / y-Ankara. It was also found that pyritic tailings were effective in the increasing level of essential micronutrients (Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn) for plant growth in both soils. This was ascertained by the dry matter yield of the plants in the green house pot tests. Heavy metal toxicity caused by pyrite which is a rightful concern remained well below the legal limits in the soils. Thus, it was concluded that the application of pyritic tailings promoted rapid amelioration of calcareous-alkali soil (Sarayk&ouml / y-Ankara) and calcareous soil (Gaziantep) with no deleterious heavy metal contamination.

Submitted by Biblioteca de Pós-Graduação em Geoquímica BGQ (bgq@ndc.uff.br) on 2016-04-29T16:38:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE Marcos Ferreira Final.pdf: 14202319 bytes, checksum: 0a3e4b766ed3761f565f902e1f0d9730 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T16:38:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE Marcos Ferreira Final.pdf: 14202319 bytes, checksum: 0a3e4b766ed3761f565f902e1f0d9730 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Universidade Federal Fluminense. Instituto de Química. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geociências-Geoquímica. Niterói, RJ / Este estudo buscou avaliar a contaminação, a mobilidade e a bioacessibilidade do As na água subterrânea e em solos e sedimentos superficiais, em uma área de mineração de ouro no município de Paracatu-MG. O As apresentou valores abaixo do limite estabelecido pela legislação brasileira (< 10 g.L-1) em todas as amostras de águas subterrâneas. As avaliações realizadas indicam que as condições físicoquímicas encontradas, juntamente com as características geológicas da região são fatores preponderantes para estes baixos teores. Nas amostras de solos e sedimentos, a concentração de As total variou de 32,9 a 1280 g.g-1 e de não detectável a 4727 g.g-1, respectivamente. Os maiores teores de As nos sedimentos e solos foram encontrados na bacia do córrego Rico, mostrando a influência direta dos processos oriundos da área de mineração em sua nascente. As demais áreas apresentaram teores inferiores a esta área, mas acima da média mundial e do folhelho médio, podendo estar sob a influência de alguns processos, tais como, a ciclagem biogeoquímica natural deste elemento, deposição de sedimentos por erosão hídrica, descarga de águas subterrâneas, e dispersão atmosférica de material particulado enriquecido em As, oriundo da área de mineração. Todos estes processos proporcionam em maior ou menor proporção o enriquecimento de As na região. De acordo com os ensaios de extração sequencial utilizados, em todas as amostras de solos e sedimentos, as frações solúvel e trocável exibiram valores extremamente baixos, correspondendo a menos de 2 % do teor total de As contido nestas amostras, mostrando baixa disponibilidade do As para o ambiente nos solos e sedimentos em Paracatu. A mobilidade do As trocável nos solos de Paracatu foi avaliada através de experimentos de lixiviação em coluna. Os resultados mostraram uma associação do As com os óxidos e hidróxidos de Fe que favorecem a retenção deste metaloide nos solos mesmo na fração trocável. Segundo os resultados deste e de outros estudos, a adição de Ca a solos contaminados favorece o processo de retenção do As, mostrando grande potencial na utilização de compostos deste elemento em estratégias que visem a remediação de áreas contaminadas. / This study aims to evaluate the mobility and inaccessibility of As in groundwater and in surface soils and sediments in a mining area of gold in the Paracatu municipality- MG. The Arsenic concentrations in all the groundwater samples showed below the established limits by the Brazilian legislation (< 10 μg.L-1). The evaluations were indicating that the physical-chemical conditions encountered together with the geological characteristics of the region are predominant factors responsible to these lower values. In the soil and sediment samples, the concentration of As varied from 32,9 to 1280 μg.g-1 and to below detection limit to 4727 μg.g-1 respectively. The higher values of As in the sediments and soils were found in the Rico stream, showing the direct influence of the processes coming from its source of the mining area. The other areas showed inferior values to this area, but above world average and of the shale values, which may be under the influence of some processes, such as the natural biogeochemical cycling of this element, deposition of sediment by hydrological erosion, groundwater discharge and atmospheric dispersion of particulate material originated by mining. All these processes provide in proportions more or less the As enrichment in the region. According to the sequential extraction tests utilized, in all the soils and sediments samples, the soluble and exchangeable fractions exhibited extremely lower values corresponding less than 2% of the total As in these samples. These results showed low availability of As to the environment by the soils and sediments in Paracatu. The mobility of the exchangeable As in the soils of Paracatu was assessed through column leaching experiments. The results showed an association of the As with the Fe oxides and hydroxides which favors to retain this metalloid even in the exchangeable fraction in the soils. According to the results of this and other studies, an addition of Ca to the contaminated soils favors the process of the As retention, showing great potential in the use of compounds of this element in strategies that aimed at the remediation of contaminated areas

Ce travail contribue à l'acquisition des connaissances sur les mécanismes et les facteurs contrôlant le transfert des éléments traces dans le système sol-nappes d'eaux souterraines. Le nombre de plus en plus important de sols contaminés par les éléments traces potentiellement toxiques suite aux activités industries a reçu beaucoup d'attention au cours des deux dernières décennies. Les polluants accumulés dans ces sols peuvent alors être transférés dans différents compartiments de l'environnement en fonction de leur origine, leur spéciation et les conditions physico-chimiques et biologiques du milieu. Ainsi, une des problématiques est la pollution des nappes d'eau souterraine par ces éléments traces. Les flux massiques d'éléments traces dans les sols vers les nappes d'eau souterraines sont un paramètre d'entrée important pour prévoir le devenir des pollutions des aquifères et donc à évaluer le potentiel de la contamination des ressources en eau potable. L’objectif de cette thèse a été de proposer une méthode de mesure des flux en laboratoire qui permette de simuler au mieux les conditions naturelles des transferts des éléments traces vers les nappes. Pour cela, nous avons mis au point une colonne de laboratoire non-saturée. Cette colonne a été testée dans différentes conditions de lixiviation, comparée aux méthodes de lixiviations normées et testée en condition d’immobilisation des éléments traces lors de l’apport d’amendements. Dans un premier temps, la colonne de laboratoire permet de diminuer l’erreur sur l’estimation des flux. Elle permet des mettre en évidence des phénomènes de sorption, désorption et complexation des éléments traces sur les substrats, contrôlant ainsi les transferts verticaux.Dans un deuxième temps nous avons évaluer l’effet d’amendements minéraux sur la mobilité des éléments traces sur deux sols contaminés par des extractions chimiques. Nous avons ensuite étudié la lixiviation de ces éléments suite à l’apport d’amendements: de l’hydroxyapatite et de la Grenaille d’acier dans ces deux sols en utilisant les colonnes de sol développés précédemment. L'étude de la localisation des éléments traces sur les minéraux nouvellement formés suite à l'apport de ces amendements minéraux et leur interaction avec les constituants minéraux d'origine des sols (microscopie couplé à des spectromètres de fluorescence X) nous a permis de comprendre et de déterminer les réactions mis en jeu au cours de la lixiviation de ces éléments. Ainsi, l’apport d’hydroxyapatite (HA) et de Grenaille d’acier (GA) ont permis de diminuer significativement les concentrations en Cd, Zn dans les lixiviats. En revanche, l’apport de HA et GA aux sols augmente significativement la libération de As (dans le cas de HA) et Pb suite a l’apport de GA et HA. Les phases minérales porteuses de ces éléments traces, ont pu être caractériser et ainsi les mécanismes responsables de l’immobilisation ou du relargage ont pu être identifiés. / This work contributes to the knowledge of the mechanisms and factors controlling the transfer of trace elements, particularly in the soil- groundwater pathway. Extensive soil contamination with potentially toxic traces elements from various industries has in many industrialized countries received significant attention over the last two decades. Mass fluxes of trace elements in soils to groundwater are important input parameter for predicting the fate of pollution of aquifers and thus to assess the potential for contamination of drinking water resources. The objective of this study was to propose a method for measuring the fluxes in laboratory to simulate the natural conditions. For this, we have developed an unsaturated soil column. This column was then tested in various leaching conditions (compared to standardized leaching methods and tested under conditions of immobilization of trace elements). At first, the laboratory column reduces the error in the estimation of flux. And allows to highlight sorption, desorption and complexation of trace elements on the substrates. In a second step we evaluate the effect of mineral amendments on the mobility of trace elements in two contaminated soils (extraction), the study their location on the newly formed minerals (microscopy coupled with X-ray fluorescence spectrometers) and finally the leaching of these. The addition of hydroxyapatite (HA) and Steel Shot (GA) have significantly reduced the concentrations of Cd, Zn and As (in the case of the contribution of GA). In contrast, the addition of HA and GA in soils significantly increases the release of As (in the case of HA) and Pb following the addition of GA and HA). Mineral phases carrying these trace elements have been well characterized and the mechanisms responsible for the retention or release have been identified.