Production of Transformed Red Mud and

Application in Mining Waste Treatment

Experience in South West Europe

ISCOBA 2011, Dr J.(Hans) J.P. Zijlstra
INTRODUCTION
100 Mt acid 20 Mt alkaline
metal mining residue bauxite refining residue
INTRODUCTION

Transformation of red mud

Properties of transformed red mud (TRM)

Production of TRM at Eurallumina SpA

Application of TRM in treatment of mining residue

Economics of TRM application

RED MUD TRANSFORMATION

2NaOH + MgCl2 Mg(OH)2 + 2Na+ + 2Cl-

Fluid volume (L/kg) Fluid volume (L/kg)
0 2 4 6 8 10 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15
13 13

12 12

11 11
pH

pH
10 10

9 9

8 8
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20
Mg + Ca (g/kg) Mg + Ca (g/kg)

L/kg pH Cl g/kg SO4 g/kg ANC mol/kg

Red mud - 12.9 <0.1 <0.10 4.5
Seawater TRM 8.5 9.2 54.9 8.59 4.0
Brine TRM 0.1 9.2 12.5 0.17 4.2
TRM PROPERTIES
Minerals Formula % Weight
Sodalite Na4Al3Si3O12Cl 15 - 20
Cancrinite (Na,Ca,K)8(Al,Si)12O24(SO4,CO3)3H2O 5-8
Hydrotalcite Mg6Al2CO3(OH)16.4H2O 2-4
Brucite Mg3(OH)6 0.5 - 2
Aragonite CaCO3 1-3
Gibb./Boehm. Al(OH)3 / y-AlOOH 15 - 25
Hematite Fe2O3 30 - 35

11 100
90
10
80
Cr 52 mg/L pH 2.4
9 70
60 Cu 63 mg/L pH 5.4

% bound
8
50
pH

RM Zn 65 mg/L pH 6.9
7 40
SW TRM
30 Cd 112 mg/L pH 8.4
6 BR TRM
20 Ni 58 mg/L pH 6.9
5
10
4 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 0 50 100 150 200
H+ added (mol/kg) time (hours)
TRM PRODUCTION Eurallumina SpA (Italy)

Brine mixing Thickening Centrifuging

Cement mixing Curing Pellet sieving

TRM APPLICATION Baja Acqua Forte (Portugal)

ViroMineTM Cu Fe Zn SO4
g/L pH mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L
Raw - 2.0 933 14461 1962 65640
Treated 44 8.2 <1 7 <1 68913

9
8
7
6
5
pH

4
3
2
1
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
added (g/L)
TRM APPLICATION Baja Acqua Forte (Portugal)

B.A.F

TESTING

MIXING

SPRAYING
TRM APPLICATION Baccu Locci (Italy)

8 700

600
7
500
6

Zn mg/L
400
pH

5
RAW 300 RAW
TRM TRM
4
200
3 100

2 0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0
L/kg L/kg
GCT APPLICATION Baccu Locci (Italy)

Testing Reactive barrier Reagent mixing

Mix deposition Filtration Reactive barrier

TRM ECONOMICS

Low efficiency - high volume:

TRM has only 20% of arsenate adsorption capacity of GFH.
GFH = $1500/t then TRM < $300/t with higher disposal costs.

High efficiency low volume:

EK soil treatment 6 times as efficient with TRM around anode.
Economic at TRM = $1500/t.

High efficiency high volume:

Mining waste remediation for $100/t with 10 wt% TRM blend.
Competitive at TRM = $100/t incl. transport-, excl. disposal costs.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks for your attention

Digita-IGAC-CNR: Roberto Peretti, Antonio Zucca | Eurallumina: Giorgio Pompei, Alredo Teodosi |
Integra: Paolo Busolo, Alessandro Caviezel, Claudio Cossu | Montana: Alberto Angeloni, Nicola Cogoni,
Marco Maroni | TerraPlus: Joo Barros | Virotec: Daniel Drew, Daniel Faux, Doug Gordon, David
McConchie, Bill Prast.