Investigation of the Impact of Leaching Agent Concentration and pH on the Stability of Agglomeration of Ion-Absorbed Rare Earth Deposits

Ion-absorbed rare earth deposits react with the leaching agent during the in situ leaching process through ion exchange and hydration, which change the stability of ore agglomerates and even result in mining slopes or landslides. Indoor simulated column leaching assays were conducted on ion-absorbed...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geofluids 2023-10, Vol.2023, p.1-13
Main Authors: Gao, Zhongquan, Rao, Yunzhang, Shi, Liang, Zhang, Xiaoming, Xiang, Run
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agglomerates
Earth
Gravity
Hydrogen-ion concentration
In situ leaching
Investigations
Ion exchange
Ions
Landslides
Landslides & mudslides
Leaching
Magnesium
Magnesium sulfate
Mineral industry
Mines and mineral resources
Mining
Mining industry
Particle size
pH effects
Pharmacists
Rare earth metal ores
Resource recovery
Shear strength
Slope stability
Slopes
Stability
Sulfates
Thickness
Zeta potential
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Ion-absorbed rare earth deposits react with the leaching agent during the in situ leaching process through ion exchange and hydration, which change the stability of ore agglomerates and even result in mining slopes or landslides. Indoor simulated column leaching assays were conducted on ion-absorbed rare earth deposit samples by using magnesium sulfate solution as the leaching solution. Surface zeta potential, double electric layer thickness, particle gradation, and pore structure were analyzed to measure the different concentrations and pHs of leaching solutions’ impact on the stability of ore agglomerates. Results show that the critical magnesium sulfate solution concentration and pH affecting the stability of deposit sample agglomerates are 3.5% and 4, respectively. The chemical replacement reaction between the leaching agent and rare earth ions occurs during column leaching when it reaches its zero-point potential at a pH of 3.5168. This breaks the balance between the van der Waals gravitational force and double-layer repulsion in clay particles and induces the disruption of agglomerates, which causes the difference in the pore radius ratio of the ore samples before and after column leaching. It is of great engineering guidance to solve the problems of slope instability and landslides that may occur in the ore body during the mining process of ionic rare earth ore.
ISSN:1468-8115
1468-8123
DOI:10.1155/2023/6333122