GEOCHEMISTRY AND MINERALOGY OF LEAD-ZINC MINE TAILINGS FROM THE ARTANA LANDFILL IN THE REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO

Abstract

The aim of this work was to identify and characterize the chemical elements in the samples of flotation tailings from the Pb-Zn mine in the Artana landfill, Republic of Kosovo. A total of 38 tailings samples were analyzed for their geochemical composition using: inductively coupled plasma – atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), as well as for their mineralogical composition using X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). The geochemical data show that the content of most elements is in the following range: iron 5.8 – 31.9 %, calcium 0.69 – 13.4%, aluminium 0.08 – 1.98%, potassium 0.11 – 1.34%, lead 0.26 – 1.75%, and zinc 0.03 – 1.89%. The semi-quantitative X-ray diffraction (XRPD) analysis shows the information for the most common minerals with their average content: pyrite 37.38%, basanite 25.28%, anhydrite 18.62% and quartz 16.93%. The data obtained from the collected samples with different instrumental techniques (ICP-AES and SEM-EDX) show a good correlation for the content of the following metals: Fe, Ca, Al, K and Pb.