Stability of arsenopyrite and As(III) in low-temperature acidic solutions

Arsenopyrite is one of the most important pri-mary arsenic mineral. In the Eh-pH diagram of the As-O2-S-H2O system, if the total arsenic concentration (TAs) is taken to be 0.75 mg/L, the total sulfur con-centration, 32 mg/L, the temperature, 25℃and the pressure, one atmosphere pressure for the discrimina-tion of arsenic species, it may be found that under hy-pergene conditions, arsenopyrite is a moderately stable mineral. Only in the strongly alkaline and reducing environment can arsenopy…

Stability of arsenopyrite and As(III) in low-temperature acidic solutions

Arsenopyrite is one of the most important primary arsenic mineral. It is easily oxidized under hypergene conditions to release Fe, As, S and other elements. Of the released elements, dissolved arsenic is an extremely toxic element. It is of particular importance to study arsenopyrite and the conversion of As species for environmental protection. This paper deals with the stability of arsenopyrite and As(III) in acidic Fe2(SO4)3 and FeCl3 solutions with the concentrations within the range of 10-2-10-5 mol·kg-1. Experimental researches revealed the following points: (1) under the conditions of the experiment arsenopyrite is unstable and its oxidation extent tends to increase with increasing Fe3+ concentration and reaction temperature and decreasing pH; (2) arsenic released during the oxidation of arsenopyrite is dominated by hydrous oxides of As(III); (3) in the FeCl3 solution the oxidation rate of arsenopyrite and As(III) toward As(V) is faster than in the Fe2(SO4)3; and (4) the stability of As(III) tends to increase with decreasing oxidant concentration and reaction temperature, but to decrease with increasing Cl- concentration and illuminance.