Immobilization of copper sulfide flotation tailings through the use of geopolymers, Tacna - Perú.

Abstract

Currently, mining-metallurgical industrial activities generate significant amounts of mining tailings, and innovative environmentally friendly methods are required for their final disposal or sustainable immobilization. The objective of the study was to immobilize copper sulphide flotation tailings through the geopolymerization process. The samples were obtained from the Toquepala mining unit, - Tacna (Peru), the ash from the ENGIE-Moquegua hydroelectric plant. The results in the first phase of the characterization of the ash (FA) and the mining tailings (MT) through the chemical analysis EDX, mineralogical DRX and morphological SEM, show aluminosilicate content, in the second phase the mixtures of 55% MT, 37, 5% FA and 7.5% MK activated at 10 M at 35 days of curing, demonstrated resistance of 24.6 Mpa according to mechanical resistance tests, the mixture of 100% MT activated at 10 M at 35 days of curing, it is effective by itself for the formation of the geopolymer, obtaining resistances of 22.68 Mpa, the SEM analysis demonstrated formation of tetragonal structures typical of a geopolymer, the TCLP analysis demonstrated a significant reduction of the contaminating elements Ba, Cd, Cr, Pb, opening a new field for tailings treatment.