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Vertical Distribution of Cyanide and Heavy Metals in a Tailings Pond in Jilin, China

Authors :
Zhehao Li
Qianfei Zhao
Hongying Yang
Qiang Liu
Yu Zhang
Ying Wang
Linlin Tong
Source :
Minerals, Vol 12, Iss 11, p 1394 (2022)
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2022.

Abstract

After long-term accumulation, weathering and rainfall of metals and non-metals in tailings ponds, the chemical composition will change, and the surface heavy metals may gradually migrate to the bottom layer, thus showing a cumulative effect. At present, the distribution of cyanide and heavy metals in vertical space has not been reported. In this work, 12 sampling points were arranged for a cyanide tailings pond by the grid method in Jilin, China. The contents of cyanide and heavy metals were determined according to the standard method. The results show that the heavy metals in the tailings were mainly Cu, Pb, Zn and Mn (342.83 mg/kg, 571.09 mg/kg, 610.15 mg/kg and 796.63 mg/kg, respectively), and the concentration of heavy metals in the horizontal direction does not change significantly. It should be noted that the concentrations of zinc and manganese did not change much in the vertical direction. The concentration of copper and lead increased with the increase in depth. The concentration of cyanide at the sampling site far away from human activities was higher at 6.71 mg/kg, and the average concentration is 2.5 mg/kg. In addition, because the cyanide is unstable and affected by factors such as light and rainfall, the concentration change in the vertical direction fluctuates.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2075163X
Volume :
12
Issue :
11
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Minerals
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.8b40131ebf6e4943b3b76d53ebe4c0d9
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/min12111394