A silica/fly ash-based technology for controlling pyrite oxidation. Semi-annual, March 1, 1996 - August 31, 1996

The overall objective is to develop methodologies by which metasilicate or fly ash may produce an effective coating on pyrite surfaces for inhibiting pyrite oxidation. During the past six months, the investigators produced wet chemistry evidence demonstrating that pyrite-HCO{sub 3} complexes promote pyrite oxidation. This is an important finding for their over all strategy in controlling pyrite oxidation because it suggests that pyrite microencapsulation is important in order to control oxidation in near cirumneutral pH environments produced by addition of alkaline material, e.g., fly ash. In their previous studies, the investigators reported that pyrite microencapsulation could be carried out by reacting pyrite with a pH buffered solution and in the presence of metasilicate. The coating formed on the surface of pyrite appeared to be an amorphous iron-oxide-silicate material which inhibited pyrite oxidation. During this past six months, the investigators evaluated: the molecular mechanisms of silicate adsorption by iron oxide; the effects of silicate on the bulk and surface properties of iron oxides; and the effect of silicate on metal-cation adsorption properties by iron oxides