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Arsenic Removal from Lead Concentrate-Containing Mimetite Mineral to Solve the Environmental Problem for Smelting Process

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Abstract

The presence of arsenic in base metal concentrates including copper, lead, and zinc creates problems such as low quality of final product and environmental issues. Therefore, additional processing steps for removing arsenic are required. Among several methods to reduce arsenic from these concentrates, alkaline leaching was selected as an efficient and simple method. In this research, sodium sulfide and sodium hydroxide mixtures were used for arsenic elimination from lead concentrate produced by Zarrin Madan Asia Company. To obtain optimum conditions, the effect of some parameters such as temperature, leaching time, liquid/solid ratio (L/S), sodium sulfide, and sodium hydroxide concentrations on arsenic removal was investigated. Based on characterization methods, mimetite was the main arsenic compound in lead concentrate; however, after alkaline sulfide leaching, the starting material was decomposed, and lead was mainly transformed to PbS. Accordingly, up to 98% of arsenic was removed under optimum selective leaching conditions (30 g/L of sulfide sodium, 5 g/L of sodium hydroxide, at 85 °C, 15 min, and L/S ratio = 7). To immobilize arsenic from alkaline leaching, the precipitation method was used by finding optimum conditions (at Fe/As = 3, 25 °C and 12 h). Therefore, the final product was suitable for further smelting processes without any environmental problems.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support of Ayerma Industry and Mining Consulting Engineers Company with a Grant Number of 30/8582 for providing financial support to carry out this research.

Funding

This study was funded by Ayerma Industry and Mining Consulting Engineers Company (Grant Number of 30/8582).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mineral Processing, Faculty of Mining Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, Iran

    Mina Hadizadeh, Shima Barakan & Valeh Aghazadeh

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  1. Mina Hadizadeh
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  2. Shima Barakan
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  3. Valeh Aghazadeh
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Correspondence to Valeh Aghazadeh.

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The contributing editor for this article was Christina Meskers.

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Hadizadeh, M., Barakan, S. & Aghazadeh, V. Arsenic Removal from Lead Concentrate-Containing Mimetite Mineral to Solve the Environmental Problem for Smelting Process. J. Sustain. Metall. 7, 1004–1012 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40831-021-00375-x

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