Pollution

Pollution

Treatment of Gold Mine Wastewater to Remove Heavy Metals with Emphasis on Cyanide Using Natural Adsorbents

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors
Reza Khakpour 1
Nasser Mehrdadi 2
Amir Pazoki 3
Gholamreza Nabi Bidhendi 2
1 Graduate Faculty of Environment, Kish International Campus, University of Tehran, Iran
2 Graduate Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
3 Department of Minning Engineering, University of Lorestan, Khorramabad, Iran
10.22059/poll.2026.414242.3331
Abstract
In gold mines, large amounts of wastewater are produced annually due to the processing processes of the mine. These wastewaters contain large amounts of heavy metals and cyanide. due to the pollution of heavy metals and cyanide as well as the dangers of these pollutants to human health and the environment, it is necessary to develop and test the correct and economic solution for management of this type of wastewater. In this research, a gold mine in Iran as a sample mine to collect drainage water for quantitative and qualitative analysis in order to determine the amount of heavy metals and cyanide is considered. In the analysis of this drainage, it was found that heavy metals such as lead, manganese, arsenic, zinc and iron and cyanide are in higher levels. In order to evaluate the efficiency of adsorption method in the treatment of gold mine wastewater, a laboratory pilot was designed and then organic adsorbents including leaf soil and mushroom compost as well as inorganic adsorbents including lime and zeolite were selected according to different criteria. In the pilot study, one layer of each adsorbent was placed and the drainage sample was poured into the pilot. The results showed that the adsorbents had good performance in the period of time and recorded high removal of 95 % which indicates the effect of selected adsorbent in the treatment of gold mine wastewater.
Keywords
Gold mine wastewater
Heavy metals
Cyanide
Natural adsorbents
Adsorption
Subjects
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Pollution
Volume 12, Issue 4
Autumn 2026
Pages 1247-1259