Antimony weathering products in mine wastes: A case study in Pezinok (Slovakia)
Final Report Abstract
We have investigated a heavily polluted site (Pezinok, Slovakia) as a model natural laboratory with the focus on the mobility of arsenic and antimony, two toxic metalloids. We applied a range of state-of-the-art techniques and studied the chosen sites on macro-, micro- and nanoscopic level. A single most interesting result of this research is the mineralogical and geochemical fractionation and separation of As and Sb. Despite the expectations, these two metalloids behave very differently in the geochemical settings studied. Arsenic attaches very strongly to poorly crystalline iron oxides; this association was known for a longer time. Antimony, on the other hand, tends to become incorporated into the structure of newly-formed minerals (goethite - FeOOH, tripuhyite - FeSbO4). These minerals immobilize antimony and store it inside the tailings. These findings have several implications. The most important one is that, given relatively long time (years) and supply of ferric iron, antimony will be effectively immobilized even without implementation of sophisticated remediation systems or new technologies. On the other hand, if antimony is released rapidly, it will be outcompeted by arsenate or phosphate for the adsorption sites on iron oxides and will move relatively unrestricted through the environment. Our results substantially enrich the mineralogical and geochemical understanding of cycling of As and Sb at polluted sites and place constraints on the remediation effort at these sites.
Publications
- 2011: A mineralogical, geochemical, and microbiogical assessment of the antimony- and arsenic-rich neutral mine drainage tailings near Pezinok, Slovakia. American Mineralogist
Majzlan, J., Lalinská, B., Chovan, M., Bläß, U., Brecht, B., Göttlicher, J., Steininger, R., Hug, K., Ziegler, S., Gescher, J.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2011.3556) - Constraints on the remediation strategies from elemental and mineral inventory of tailing impoundments near Pezinok, Slovakia. Mineralogia
Majzlan, J., Brecht, B., Lalinská, B., Chovan, M., Moravansky, D., Uhlik, P.
