Adsorption of water on sulfide surfaces and natural floatability of sulfide minerals were studied using density functional theory (DFT) method. All computational models were built in a vacuum environment to eliminate the effects of oxygen and other factors. H2O molecule prefers to stay with pyrite and sphalerite surfaces rather than water, whereas for galena, chalcocite, stibnite, and molybdeni...

In hot metal desulphurisation (HMD) the slag will hold removed sulphur. However, iron that is lost when skimmed off, accounts for highest costs of HMD process. These losses are lower has a viscosity, which can be achieved by changing composition. A basicity decreases viscosity slag, but also lowers its sulphur removal capacity, therefore optimisation necessary. this study, optimal composition i...

BACKGROUND Pyrite, the most abundant metal sulphide on Earth, is known to spontaneously form hydrogen peroxide when exposed to water. In this study the hypothesis that pyrite-induced hydrogen peroxide is transformed to hydroxyl radicals is tested. RESULTS Using a combination of electron spin resonance (ESR) spin-trapping techniques and scavenging reactions involving nucleic acids, the formati...

Rate equations and kinetic parameters were obtained for various reactions involved in the bacterial oxidation of pyrite. The rate constants were 3.5 muM Fe per min per FeS(2) percent pulp density for the spontaneous pyrite dissolution, 10 muM Fe per min per mM Fe for the indirect leaching with Fe, 90 muM O(2) per min per mg of wet cells per ml for the Thiobacillus ferrooxidans oxidation of wash...

Elevated arsenic concentrations are common in water recovered from aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) systems in west-central Florida that store surface water. Investigations of the Suwannee Limestone of the Upper Floridan aquifer, the storage zone for ASR systems, have shown that arsenic is highest in pyrite in zones of high moldic porosity. Geochemical modeling was employed to examine pyrite ...

The oxidation of a pure pyrite by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans is not really a constant phenomenon; it must be considered to be more like a succession of different steps which need characterization. Electrochemical studies using a combination of a platinum electrode and a specific pyrite electrode (packed-ground-pyrite electrode) revealed four steps in the bioleaching process. Each step can be ide...