Geo-Congress 2020
Leaching Behavior of Metals and Sulfate from Taconite Tailings Used in Pavement Construction
Publication: Geo-Congress 2020: Geo-Systems, Sustainability, Geoenvironmental Engineering, and Unsaturated Soil Mechanics (GSP 319)
ABSTRACT
Taconite tailings are the by-product ore-bearing rocks of iron mining, predominantly consisting of silicate and fine magnetite crystals. In recent years, the use of taconite tailings in pavement construction has increased considerably due to their superior mechanical properties. However, an environmental impact assessment of taconite tailings is required before their potential use in construction purposes. Taconite tailings may leach heavy and toxic metals, which could contaminate the soil, surface, and groundwater. Coarse, sand, fine, and composite sized taconite tailings were subjected to pH-dependent leaching tests in the pH range of 2 to 13 to investigate the leaching behavior of aluminum (Al), chromium (Cr), magnesium (Mg), and sulfate (SO4). In addition, toxic characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP), synthetic precipitation leaching procedure (SPLP), water leach test (WLT), and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) leach tests were performed to evaluate the leaching behavior of taconite tailings in different environmental conditions. The test results showed the highest concentrations of metals were leached from fine sized taconite, whereas the lowest amounts of metal leached from composite taconite tailings. Al and Cr demonstrated amphoteric leaching patterns, whereas Mg showed a cationic leaching pattern. The leached concentrations of SO4 were found to be pH-independent at the pH range of 4 to 13. Except for Al, the leached concentrations of other elements were below the U.S. EPA specified maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for drinking water. Taconite tailings leached the highest metal concentrations in TCLP effluent; therefore, it is recommended as the most conservative test procedure to evaluate the leaching of these metals from taconite tailings.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank John Romal, Environmental Lab and Safety Manager, for his support in laboratory investigations. The assistance and effort of Erin Donaldson in sample preparation is appreciated.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Geo-Congress 2020: Geo-Systems, Sustainability, Geoenvironmental Engineering, and Unsaturated Soil Mechanics (GSP 319)
Pages: 159 - 168
Editors: James P. Hambleton, Ph.D., Northwestern University, Roman Makhnenko, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Aaron S. Budge, Ph.D., Minnesota State University, Mankato
ISBN (Online): 978-0-7844-8282-7
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Feb 21, 2020
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