Fe-Sulfide Liberation and Association as a Proxy for the Interpretation of Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) Test Results

摘要: Acid rock drainage (ARD) characterisation and prediction protocols, comprising geochemical static, kinetic and biokinetic tests, sometimes fail to adequately assess the ARD potentials of sul dic mine wastes. Several authors have partly linked this shortfall to the insu cient use of mineralogical and textural analyses. Mineral liberation and association data may inform the interpretation of the results of standard ARD tests and this study assesses these parameters for Fe-sul de minerals in the feed material for humidity cell (meso-scale), static and biokinetic (micro-scale) tests. Results show that the dominating textural parameters on the meso-and micro-scales are association and liberation, respectively.