Recycling

Biography

Biography: L Reyes-Bozo

Abstract

Sawdust was used as cheap sorbent for the remediation of a diesel and oil fuel-contaminated mining soil whereas biosolids and their main components (i.e., humic substances, sugars and proteins) were evaluated as main collector and frothers in froth flotation of copper sulfide ores. The use of these waste materials in copper sulfide ore mining and mineral processing may have a positive impact on the cleaner production of copper from its natural raw sources and may decrease the deleterious effect that mining operations have on the environment. Mixtures of oil fuel contaminated mining soil and sawdust were treated in an aerobic reactor at 50.0% humidity for several days. A significant decrease (over 60.0%) of volatile organic compounds content in these mixtures was obtained after one-month of treatment. The total replacement of the main collector with the same dosage of humic acids (38 g/t) resulted in copper recovery and grade concentrate of 85.9% and 6.7% Cu, respectively. Partial replacement (50%) resulted in a slightly lower copper recovery (89.5%), but a slightly higher grade concentrate (5.9%) as compared to use of xanthate. Biosolids with a high content of fulvic substances also showed similar metallurgical indicators. Biosolids and their components have shown to be potential candidates to partially substitute commercial chemicals used in industrial flotation of copper sulfide ores. This possibility opens up an alternative for greening copper sulfide ore flotation by using more environment-friendly flotation reagents. Then, a conceptual model based on industrial ecology and cleaner production principles is proposed for greening the overall copper sulfide ore processing.