Zróżnicowanie zawartości metali w odpadach flotacyjnych rud Zn-Pb (ZGH Bolesław, rej. olkuski)

DIFFERENTIATION OF METAL CONTENT OF METALS IN THE FLOTATION TAILINGS OF ZN-PB ORES (ZGH BOLESŁAW, OLKUSZ REGION, SW POLAND) Summary The zinc and lead ore in three mines of the ZGH Boleslaw: Boleslaw, Olkusz and Pomorzany mines (Fig. 1) contains ca. 4% Zn and 1% Pb on the average. Apart from shell-blende and galena, the final product of the ore processing are flotation tailings that are gathered in settlers (Figs 1-3). The total area of four unexploited settlers (No. 1-3 and 3a) is ca. 70 hectares, and of exploited settler (No. 4) is ca. 40 hectares. Eight boreholes were drilled in the unexploited settlers and they went through the entire series of tailing deposits (ca. 20 to 30 m thick). 224 furrow samples were taken, each 2 to 4 kg in weight and representing an interval 1 m long. They were then analyzed in the Polish Geological Institute; the analyses included the following studies of the flotation tailings: chemical (AAS, ICP, OES), X-ray, slick and petrographical, as well as chemical analyses (ICP, HPLC) of groundwater and surface water (Fig. 1). The studies showed that the flotation tailings consist mainly of carbonates (ca. 70% dolomite) and zinc, lead and iron sulfides, and iron oxides, barite and antropogenic components (as quartz sand and slag) are of lesser importance. The content of major components is shown in Table 1 and Figs 4-5. The average content of the major components is as follows (in %): Zn - 1.01, Pb - 0.49, Fe - 6.6, S- 6.2, ZnO - 0.57, PbO - 0.37. The average content of ZnS is 0.7-0.8%, and of PbS 0.1 % (Table 3). FeS2 content ranges from 10 to 16%. Zoned differential distribution of main components in the tailings was recorded (Figs 6-9). Estimate resources of metal components and sulfur are shown in Tables 2 and 3. The greatest concentration is related to iron and sulfur that are mostly related to FeS2. The majority of sulfides (and, accordingly, metals) are concentrated in finer fractions (below 0.1 mm - comp. Table 4). There is a research program in progress in ZGH Boleslaw aimed to use flotation tailings as a source of metals as well as a component of hydraulic packing and solidified packing in mine galleries.