Treatment of arsenic rich waters by the HDS process

Arsenic contaminated waters are not uncommon; indeed from naturally occurring contaminated waters through to those that are a direct consequence of human activities such as mining, all are affecting the quality of water resources worldwide. The ever increasing demands on natural water resources mean that the effective control of this toxic contaminant is paramount and this is reflected in the ever increasing global legislation.There are currently three mechanisms by which arsenic is commercially treated in effluents. These are physical separation processes such as reverse osmosis, precipitation/adsorption processes, some of which are bacterially assisted, and a whole variety of ion exchange processes, again with some bacterial enhancement. The choice of treatment is not only driven by cost but by the chemistry of the water and the water quality standard to be met.In this study a very high arsenic enriched groundwater, containing in excess of 25,000 µg/L arsenic, was treated by a typical treatment method through a continuously operated pilot plant. In the treatment, iron III salts were added to the influent in order to form precipitates with the arsenic and to form an adsorptive surface that would assist with treatment of the enriched water. This addition of iron III salts for the removal of arsenic is common practice in the water treatment industry as the resulting iron III arsenates are highly stable.However, results from the pilot plant show that the process was further enhanced by the addition of small amounts of hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is a powerful oxidising reagent and assists in ensuring the complete conversion of any arsenic III to arsenic V that was then effectively removed in the pilot plant. After treatment residual arsenic levels of 10 µg/L were obtained compared to 68 µg/L without oxidation reagent addition.     

Sinks of iron and manganese in underground coal mine workings

The sources and sinks of manganese in underground coal mine workings are poorly understood compared to those of iron. The geochemical system in the secondary egress drift of Caphouse Colliery near Horbury, UK, is an ideal system for studying these processes. Five locations along the drift and four secondary inflows to the drift were sampled 24 times through the year commencing May 2005. During the sampling period, the pH in the main channel varied from 6.73 to 7.93 and increased along the flow path. The secondary inflows to the drift from the strata were of higher alkalinity (mean = 385 mg/L as CaCO₃) than the main flow (mean = 330 mg/L as CaCO₃); the affects of mixing between the less alkaline main channel and the more alkaline secondary inflows and of carbon dioxide exsolution are evident in the form of carbonate and hydroxide precipitates. SEM and XRD analysis of precipitates collected from the drift confirm the presence of calcium and manganese carbonates and ferric hydroxide. PHREEQC speciation and solubility modelling confirms supersaturation of the water in the main channel with respect to ferric oxy-hydroxides; iron, manganese, magnesium and calcium carbonates; and manganese oxides. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Mineralogical and geochemical alteration of low-grade metamorphic black slates due to oxidative weathering

Low-grade metamorphic black slates of Silurian and Lower Devonian ages (from the Thüringisches Schiefergebirge in Germany) were investigated to identify mineralogical and geochemical alterations that occur during the oxidative weathering black slates.The slates exhibit an intense total organic carbon decrease (>90 wt%) due to oxidative weathering. The organic matter in black slate consists mainly of non-pyrolysable material with only minor portions of pyrolysable material. In contrast to the non-pyrolysable organic matter, the concentration of pyrolysable organic matter is not decreased during weathering. Heating experiments have yielded information about a potential protection of pyrolysable organic matter against weathering, which is probably caused by a structural configuration or the intergrowth of organic matter and illite.The slates consist mainly of illite. Iron oxide (goethite) and phosphate encrustations were formed on slate surfaces as a result of oxidative and acid weathering of both iron sulfide and monazite. Kaolinite often occurs as an older encrustation beneath the iron oxide encrustations. Encrustations of iron oxide and phosphate are major sinks for trace elements, released during oxidative weathering.     

赵家沟铁矿矿体特征及找矿标志

铁矿是国民经济的重要经济资源,铁矿的勘查对国民的发展有重要的意义,本文针对赵家沟铁矿的研究,提出了铁矿的找矿标志。     

Roaldite in the iron-meteorite São Julião de Moreira

Roaldite – Fe₄N – has been identified in the São Julião de Moreira iron meteorite using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and simultaneously acquired energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Mean-periodic-number images derived from raw EBSD patterns confirm this phase by an even higher spatial resolution compared to EDS.Roaldite appears in the form of systematically and repetitively aligned plates. Despite the locally heavy plastic deformation, it is shown that the origin of the oriented precipitation of roaldite is linked to the orientation of the kamacite matrix. Roaldite can be considered to be precipitated from kamacite using an inverse Kurdjumov-Sachs (K-S) or Nishiyama-Wassermann (N-W) orientation relationship. A more accurate discrimination is impossible due to the accumulated shock deformation, which blurs the local reference orientation of kamacite. The habit plane of roaldite is found to be {112}_R, which is most likely parallel to {120}_K of kamacite. Some of the roaldite plates contain two orientation variants which repeatedly alternate. Their misorientation angle is about 12°.     

Archaeometric characterisation and origin of black coatings on prehistoric pottery

Black or dark grey vessel surfaces with characteristic metallic lustre are recognised from various archaeological contexts throughout Europe. This feature is commonly attributed to the application of graphite-bearing coatings onto ceramic vessels. However, recent experimental studies have shown that a very similar visual effect can alternatively be achieved by polishing and, subsequently, firing in a reducing atmosphere (so-called smudging). In this study, experimentally manufactured ceramics as well as samples of prehistoric ware (dated to the Neolithic Age, late Bronze Age and early Iron Age) have been analysed to find the distinguishing features between graphite-based and non-mineral black coatings. In the low-magnification BSE images the well-preserved graphite-coated surfaces are characterized by a distinctive spotty pattern with numerous dark grey angular fragments of monomineralic or nearly monomineralic metamorphic rocks scattered in the clay groundmass. Provided that polished thin sections are skilfully prepared, individual graphite plates can be easily recognized in the near-surface layer of the sherds using polarized reflected light microscopy. A relatively homogeneous appearance is typical of the low-magnification BSE images of surfaces coated by smudging. At higher magnifications, presence of blurred darkish stains (presumably organic-derived, as indicated by elevated levels of biogenic elements) is characteristic of this kind of non-mineral black coatings. SEM-EDS and optical microscopy have been supplemented by micro-Raman spectroscopy, which allows differentiation between various carbonaceous phases.     

西藏班戈县江错铁矿正长斑岩锆石LA-MC-ICP-MS U-Pb定年及意义

在班戈县东偏北约100km的江错铁矿采集正长斑岩样品,进行系统的岩相学、地球化学及锆石LAMC-ICP-MS U-Pb定年。结果显示正长斑岩的SiO_2含量变化为59.55%～62.61%,平均值61.52%,Na_2O含量变化为9.31%～10.01%,平均值9.74%;K_2O含量变化为0.107%～0.12%,平均值0.113%,里特曼指数变化范围为5.16～5.36,属于钠质碱性岩系列,是班公湖-怒江缝合带中段班戈地区首次发现的碱性岩。锆石U-Pb年龄为170±2.4Ma,表明其为中侏罗世的产物。综合对比区域地质资料,认为这套正长斑岩应该是班公湖-怒江洋盆开始俯冲早期的不成熟岛弧阶段的产物。     

Mineral geochemistry of the Sangan skarn deposit,NE Iran: Implication for the evolution of hydrothermal fluid

The Sangan iron skarn deposit is located in the Sabzevar-Dorouneh Magmatic Belt of northeastern Iran. The skarn contains zoned garnet, clinopyroxene and magnetite. Cores and rims of zoned garnets are generally homogeneous, having a relatively high ΣREE, low ΣLREE/ΣHREE ratios, and positive Eu anomalies. The cores of the zoned clinopyroxenes are exceptionally HREE-rich, with relatively high ΣREE and HREE/LREE ratios, as well as positive Eu anomalies. Clinopyroxene rims are LREE-rich, with relatively low ΣREE contents and HREE/LREE ratios, and do not have Eu anomalies. Magnetite grains are enriched in LREEs in comparison with the HREEs and lack Eu anomalies. Variations of fluid composition and physicochemical conditions rather than YAG-type substitution mechanism are considered to have major control on incorporating trace elements, including REE, into the skarn mineral assemblage. Based on baro-acoustic decrepitation analysis, the calc-silicate and magnetite dominant stages were formed at similar temperatures, around 350–400 °C. In the Sangan skarns, hydrothermal fluids shifted from near-neutral pH, reduced conditions with relatively high ΣREE, low LREE/HREE ratios, and U-rich characteristics towards acidic, oxidized conditions with relatively low ΣREE, high LREE/HREE ratios, and U-poor characteristics.     

Zircon and titanite U-Pb dating of the Zhangjiawa iron skarn deposit,Luxi district,North China Craton: Implications for a craton-wide iron skarn mineralization

The North China craton hosts numerous iron skarn deposits containing more than 2600 Mt of iron ores, mostly with an average grade of >45 wt% Fe, which have been among the most important source of high-grade iron ores for the last three decades in China. These deposits typically form clusters and can be roughly divided into the western and eastern belts, which are located in the middle of Trans-North China orogen and to the west of the Tan-Lu fault zone in the eastern part of North China craton, respectively. The western belt mainly consists of the southern Taihang district, as well as the Linfen and Taiyuan ore fields, whereas the eastern belt comprises the Luxi and Xu-Huai districts. The Zhangjiawa deposit in the Luxi district has proven reserves of 290 Mt at an average of 46% Fe (up to >65%). The iron mineralization occurs mainly along contact zones between the Kuangshan dioritic intrusion and middle Ordovician marine carbonate rocks that host numerous evaporite intercalations. Titanite grains from the mineralized skarn are closely intergrown with magnetite and retrograde skarn minerals including chlorite, phlogopite and minor epidote, indicating a hydrothermal origin. The titanite grains have extremely low REE contents and low Th/U ratios, consistent with their precipitation directly from hydrothermal fluids responsible for the iron mineralization. Ten hydrothermal titanite grains yield a weighted mean ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 131.0 ± 3.9 Ma (MSWD = 0.1, 1σ), which is in excellent agreement with a zircon U-Pb age (130 ± 1 Ma) of the ore-related diorite. This age consistency confirms that the iron skarn mineralization is temporally and likely genetically related to the Kuangshan intrusion. Results from this study, when combined with existing isotopic age data, suggest that iron skarn mineralization and associated magmatism throughout both the eastern and western belts took place coevally between 135 and 125 Ma, with a peak at ca. 130 Ma. As such, those deposits may represent the world's only major Phanerozoic iron skarn concentration hosted in Precambrian cratons. The magmatism and associated iron skarn mineralization coincide temporally with the culmination of lithospheric thinning and destruction of the North China craton, implying a causal link between the two.     

首钢秘鲁铁矿马尔科纳矿区9-10号矿体地质特征及成矿模式

秘鲁马尔科纳铁矿位于南美安第斯山金属成矿带中。9-10号矿体赋存在志留-泥盆系马尔科纳组角岩中,MINA9、MINA10两个矿体实为同一矿体,只是被后期安山玢岩脉切割分成为两段。矿体呈层状、似层状产出,走向上连续,由一个主矿体组成,地表出露主矿体长1 450m,平均宽度100m。西部矿体走向近EW,倾向NW,倾角较缓;东部矿体走向NEE,倾角中等,围岩为角岩。矿体沿走向厚度稳定,9号矿体沿倾向矿体变薄,10号矿体沿倾向矿体增厚;由于后期氧化作用,铁矿体具有明显的垂直分带特点,由上到下分为氧化带、过渡带和原生带。综合矿物学和Ar同位素地质年代学研究结果,铁矿床主要形成于侏罗纪—早白垩世,成矿分为7个成矿阶段,中-晚侏罗世(171~156 Ma)的磁铁矿阶段、磁铁矿-硫化物阶段和多金属硫化物阶段是马尔科纳铁矿的主要成矿期;早白垩世(110~101 Ma)出现脉状铁-铜-硫化物叠加矿化阶段。马尔科纳铁矿的成矿模式:板块的碰撞-俯冲,造成强烈的幔源岩浆活动,形成大规模火山喷发和高钾钙碱性岩的侵位,火山(岩浆)期后的含矿流体沿NEE向断裂侵位,磁铁矿聚集矿化,形成马尔科纳铁矿的主矿体;主成矿期后又弱的叠加矿化,与中基性岩脉和断裂一起改造、破坏了先期阶段的矿体。