Application of process mineralogy in mine waste characterization

In this thesis, it is aimed to show the applicability of process mineralogy methods in characterization of mine wastes. For this purpose; characterization of samples taken from an abandoned historical Pb-Zn wastes in Balıkesir (Balya) region and from the waste sites belonging to an operating facility in the same region were carried out. In this context, mineralogical-petrographic, XRD, grain size (sieve analysis), chemical, SEM-EDS and MLA analyzes (modal mineralogy, calculated assay, elemental distribution, grain size distribution, mineral liberation, mineral association, grade-recovery curves) and also acid base calculations of the samples were performed to determine the acid production potential of the samples. With the obtained data; at least a three-stage oxidation model has been proposed for the abandoned wastes where AMD occurs and it is determined that the wastes of the plant being operated are currently passive according to mineralogical findings in terms of acid production. In addition, minAP and minNP calculated by using mineralogical data were compared with NP found in pH 6 test and AP were calculated according to the standard ABA method, evaluations without taking into account mineralogical findings and waste-specific parameters were found to be misleading. As a result; It has been demonstrated that a work-flow sequence similar to process mineralogy applications in the characterization of mineral wastes, integration of static and kinetic tests to predict AMD with mineralogical studies and development of site-specific analysis / test procedures have been found to be necessary.