Search

Copyright of Mine Water & the Environment is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The use of mining and metallurgical waste for the production of building supplies reduces the burden on the environment and serves the sustainable development of the region's industry at the same time. Russia has substantiated the possibility of producing ceramic construction materials of compression molding from a unique mixture of substances based on waste slag of copper–nickel productions, tailings of enrichment of apatite–nepheline ores, and ferruginous quartzites of enterprises of the Murmansk region. The effect of forming pressure (20, 50, and 100 MPa) on the properties of ceramic materials was studied. It is shown that an increase in molding pressure leads to an increase in the physical and mechanical properties of ceramic materials and to a decrease in fire shrinkage and water absorption. The use of a forming pressure of 100 MPa and a firing temperature of 1050 °C makes it possible to obtain a wall clinker brick; at a firing temperature of 1100 °C and a forming pressure of 20–100 MPa, a road clinker brick can be produced. Ceramic samples with frost resistance of more than 200 cycles were received. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study of the environmental impact of dusting tailing dumps of rare-metal ore dressing in the Murmansk region of Russia. The purpose of the study was to establish patterns in the atmochemical halo migration of the dust pollution of loparite ore dressing tailings. The geotechnical characteristics and material composition of the tailings material have been investigated. Potentially dusty areas identified. Models of dispersion of inorganic dust under different meteorological scenarios are constructed: at low wind load, normal and unfavorable meteorological conditions. The modeling of the spread of pollutants in the area exposed to dust at the storage site was carried out in the program for modeling atmospheric pollution Ecolog-4.60. Calculation of the dispersion of inorganic dust containing 20–70% SiO2 showed that the atmochemical halo of tailings dust pollution spreads over tens of kilometers, and already at a wind speed of about 8 m/s, the concentration of suspended solids at the border of the enterprise sanitary protection zone exceeds the maximum one-time maximum permissible concentration is 3–3.3 times, and under unfavorable meteorological conditions—Dusting reaches the boundaries of the residential area (inhabited locality Revda), located in the north-west of the enterprise, and exceeds the MPCm.o. 1.5 times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The feasibility of processing low-grade copper-nickel ores by heap bioleaching was investigated. It was found that an iron-oxidizing strain of acidophilic microorganisms, Acidithiobacillus ferrivorans, is effective in the leaching of sulfide ores from the deposits in Russia's Murmansk region. Sulfide mineralization of the studied mineral feeds was described using the methods of X-ray phase analysis and optical microscopy. In the process of leaching, the pH and Eh values and the concentrations of ferric and ferrous iron, nickel, and copper ions were monitored. By the end of the experiment, 16.5% of nickel and 7.5% of copper was recovered from the ore of the Allarechensk technogenic deposit, while 22.5% of nickel and 12.7% copper were recovered from the ore of the Nud II deposit. By silicate analysis of the solid phase, patterns of ore chemistry change were described during the process of bioleaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Murmansk Region, one of Russia's largest mining regions, as a case study, this paper examines the environmental safety challenges arising in the storage of mining and mineral processing waste (MMPW). It was found that MMPW causes environmental damage even after the deposit's exhaustion. While being stored, the MMPW composition experiences a major change in the process properties of the recoverable minerals. As a consequence, the potential value of the MMPW as a mineral resource falls. Imperfections of the regulatory framework, leading to a higher unit cost of recovery and a reduced profitability of MMPW processing, are demonstrated. Potential amendments to the Russian laws are proposed in order to make MMPW processing commercially more viable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]