A study on heavy metals mobility from zinc plant residues in Iran

The transport of heavy metals from mining disposal site to groundwater and surface water is one of the most serious environmental problems in the world. The transport of heavy metals such as Zn, Cd and Mn from leaching filter cake in RECo, Zanjan, Iran was examined by using column leaching. Parameters studied included: flow rate, pH of input solution and leaching time. In this study, the maximum dissolution percents of Zn, Cd and Mn in input solution pH of 5 were 45.50 %, 53.97% and 19.94%, respectively. To statistically analysis the experimental results, SPSS14 software was employed. The results of SPSS 14 indicated that for the Zn, Cd and Mn dissolution, time and flow rate were found respectively, the effective parameters for the pollution in zinc leach residues.