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Comprehensive Utilization of Mineral Processing Wastewater

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A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2024 | Viewed by 2134

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Shaojun Bai

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Land Resource Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, China
Interests: flotation theory; efficient and clean utilization of metal mineral resources
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Qicheng Feng

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Land Resource Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, China
Interests: flotation theory; comprehensive utilization of resources
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mineral processing plays an essential role in national economic development. Currently, highly efficient utilization of resources and environmental protection are fast becoming a priority in the mining engineering field. Mineral processing wastewater, as the inevitable product of mining and processing activities, has attracted soaring interest. Undeniably, the comprehensive utilization of mineral processing wastewater is not only an essential way to solve the shortage of water resources but is also an efficient path to achieve the cleaner production of mineral resources. Therefore, detailed studies on the purification of wastewater, extraction of valuable resources from wastewater, and technologies for the comprehensive utilization of wastewater and cleaner production of mineral resources are now major areas of research and provide the theoretical basis and technical support for efficient mineral processing. In light of these considerations, this Special Issue invites the latest advances in the comprehensive utilization of mineral processing wastewater to facilitate the sustainable development of the mining industry. Consequently, submissions dealing with mineral processing wastewater are welcome and encouraged.

Prof. Dr. Shaojun Bai
Prof. Dr. Qicheng Feng
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

mineral processing wastewater
flotation theory and technology
environmental protection
cleaner production
separation and purification

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 5129 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Sulfate and Nitrate for Lanthanum (III) Adsorption on Bentonite: Implications for Rare Earth Wastewater Disposal

by Zongke Zhou, Quan Wan, Wenbin Yu, Xin Nie, Shuguang Yang, Shuqin Yang and Zonghua Qin

Minerals 2024, 14(3), 268; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14030268 - 2 Mar 2024

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Abstract

The direct discharge of rare earth wastewater causes the waste of resources and heavy metal pollution. This paper compared the adsorption behaviors of lanthanide ions on bentonite under sulfate and nitrate systems by examining the factors affecting the adsorption, such as adsorption time, pH, background electrolyte concentration, and initial rare earth ion concentration. It was shown that the sulfate system was more favorable for the adsorption of rare earth ions on the bentonite surface. The maximum adsorption capacity in the sulfate system was about 1.7 times that in the nitrate system. In contrast, the adsorption under the nitrate system was more sensitive to the changes in pH and background electrolyte concentration. The adsorption processes under both systems are spontaneous physical adsorption processes (ΔG^θ are from −27.64 to −31.48 kJ/mol), and both are endothermic (ΔH^θ are 10.38 kJ/mol for the nitrate and 7.53 kJ/mol for the sulfate) and entropy-increasing (ΔS^θ are 61.54 J/mol for the nitrate and 76.24 J∙mol⁻¹ for the sulfate) processes. This study helps to provide information about the optimizing process parameters for the adsorption treatment of rare earth wastewater using bentonite. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Comprehensive Utilization of Mineral Processing Wastewater)

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12 pages, 6853 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Natural Pyrite as a Catalyst for a Fenton Reaction to Enhance Xanthate Degradation in Flotation Tailings Wastewater

by Xiang Gong, Suqi Li, Jiaqiao Yuan, Zhan Ding, Anmei Yu, Shuming Wen and Shaojun Bai

Minerals 2023, 13(11), 1429; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13111429 - 10 Nov 2023

Viewed by 802

Abstract

The efficient treatment of mineral-processing wastewater has attracted soaring interest recently. This study’s objective was to degrade xanthate from flotation tailings wastewater using a pyrite-catalyzed Fenton system. A sodium butyl xanthate (SBX) removal rate of more than 96% was achieved via the method under optimal conditions (a H₂O₂ concentration of 0.5 mM, a FeS₂ concentration of 0.5 g/L, an initial SBX concentration of 100 mg/L, and a natural pH of 9.36 ± 0.5), which is 12.85% higher than with a H₂O₂ system. An appropriate concentration of natural pyrite can act as a catalyst to significantly improve the oxidation capacity of H₂O₂. Additionally, the results of electron paramagnetic resonance and quenching measurements suggest that hydroxyl radicals (•OH) are the main active species in the H₂O₂-FeS₂ system. The possible reaction mechanism is proposed. The H₂O₂ adsorbs onto the pyrite surfaces and reacts with Fe²⁺, triggering the formation of •OH and Fe³⁺. The •OH most likely attacks the SBX that adsorbs on the pyrite surface or exists in the solution and promotes the transformation of the SBX anion (C₄H₉OCS₂⁻) into the intermediate butyl xanthate peroxide (BPX, C₄H₉OCS₂O⁻). Finally, BPX intermediates are likely further oxidized to smaller products such as SO₄²⁻, CO₂, and H₂O under the ongoing attack of •OH. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Comprehensive Utilization of Mineral Processing Wastewater)

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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Influences of Recycled Water Chemistry on Flotation Selectivity of Iron Oxides

Authors: Min Tang, Yan Wu and Deyan Wang

Abstract: Water chemistry has the capability of altering the chemical/electrochemical properties of mineral surfaces and interfering with their interactions with reagents in a flotation system. It could be-come unpredictable if water sources characterized by different ion distributions were involved. The purpose of this study was to identify the key elements from different recycled water sources affecting the separation efficiency in an industrial reverse flotation circuit of the iron oxides through a series of flotation tests, zeta potential measurement, and water chemical analysis from different locations in the system by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission (ICP-OES) at a period of about six months when the operations were stable. The data indicated that the key ions in the process water influencing the flotation behaviors of the iron ore were determined as Ca2+, Mg2+, or SO42-. The occurrence of iron ions resulting from mineral dissolutions in the process wa-ter, however, is inevitable due to the difficulty of the identification of them at weak alkali. This is evidenced by the results from flotation tests using SCN- as an iron chelating agent. Fe3+ ions have more significant influences on the dilution of the concentrates by increasing the content of SiO2 than Ca2+ or Mg2+ ions. The coating of iron hydroxide precipitates on the surfaces of the silicate gangues could contribute to the increase in the content of SiO2. The presence of SO42- ions as a chelating agent could be beneficial to reduce the possibility of the slime coating.