Review on arsenic removal from sulfide minerals: An emphasis on enargite and arsenopyrite

• Published in: Minerals engineering Vol. 172; p. 107133
• Main Authors: Zhao, Yu, Zhao, Hongbo, Abashina, Tatiana, Vainshtein, Mikhail
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2021
• Subjects: Arsenic removal; Arsenopyrite; Dissolution; Enargite; Oxidation; Sulfide minerals; Arsenic removal; Sulfide minerals; Oxidation; Dissolution; Enargite; Arsenopyrite
• ISSN: 0892-6875; 1872-9444
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mineng.2021.107133

•Enargite and arsenopyrite are the main arsenic containing sulfide minerals.•Both roasting and (bio)hydrometallurgy can remove arsenic from sulfide minerals.•(Bio)oxidation is one main method for arsenic removal from sulfide minerals.•Selective leaching of arsenic from sulfide minerals is significant.•Subsequent process should also be considered when choosing arsenic removal method. Enargite (Cu3AsS4) and arsenopyrite (FeAsS) are the most abundant arsenic containing sulfide minerals in the world. The existence of arsenic can significantly deteriorate the processes of mineral processing and extractive metallurgy, and also definitely cause environmental contamination due to the arsenic release. Hence, the arsenic removal from these two kinds of sulfide minerals is extremely important. However, most of the review articles only focus on arsenic removal from wastes. In this paper, the main arsenic removal methods from enargite and arsenopyrite have been summarized and discussed, mainly including roasting, oxidative dissolution (acidic condition, alkaline condition, pressure oxidation and biooxidation) and selective dissolution.