Lab-Scale Study of Passive Treatment to Treat Acidic Mine Effluent by Using Limestone and Dolomite

摘要

Limestone and dolomite were used to treat acidic mine effluent in a lab scale study of a passive treatment. This study focused on improving pH level and reducing heavy metals concentrations of the mine effluent. Both limestone and dolomite with aggregate sizes of 10-20 mm and 30-50 mm were packed in a 40 L tank filled with acidic mine effluent. The mine effluent was sampled from an active iron ore mine in Bukit Besi, Terengganu. The experiments were lasted for 10 days and the mine effluent samples were collected to measure pH, alkalinity and heavy metal concentrations at various retention time. Experimental results revealed that the limestone had shown a better performance compared to the dolomite in increasing pH and reducing metals concentrations of the mine effluent. Most heavy metals were able to be reduced successfully with only manganese (Mn) had shown a poor reduction.