title: Recovering lead from cupel waste generated in gold analysis by Pb-Fire assay.
abstract: Because of its precision and accuracy, Pb-Fire assay is the most employed method for gold analysis in geological materials. At the second stage of the method, namely cupellation, lead is oxidized to PbO which is absorbed by the cupel, leading to metallic gold as a tiny bend at the bottom of the recipient. After cupellation, cupel becomes highly contaminated with lead, making its disposal a serious risk of environmental contamination. In the present work, a leaching process for removing lead from cupel waste is proposed, which allowed for removing 96% of PbO by weight. After a precipitation step, 92.0% of lead was recovered from leachates in the form of PbSO4. Lead in the solid wastes left by the extraction was above the limit established by Brazilian legislation and these were classified as non-hazardous. Finally, secondary effluents generated after the precipitation step presented lead content more than twenty times lower than that of leachates from cupel waste. Tons of cupel waste are annually generated from gold analysis by Pb-Fire assay. Thus, the proposed method can contribute to prevent the discharge of high amounts of lead into the environment. Also, recovery of lead can help to partially meet the industrial demand for lead compounds.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro, 35400-000, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. PH Rolfs s/n, 36570-900, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cristiane Isaac
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Cerceau
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro, 35400-000, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: cornelio@iceb.ufop.br.
authors.forename: Cornélio de Freitas
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro, 35400-000, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Carolina Silveira
authors.initials: ACS
authors.lastname: Rabelo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro, 35400-000, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cláudio Gouvea
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Dos Santos
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro, 35400-000, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sabrina Mayra Dias
authors.initials: SMD
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. PH Rolfs s/n, 36570-900, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eduardo Vinícius Vieira
authors.initials: EVV
authors.lastname: Varejão
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D006046:Gold / Q000032:analysis*; D006256:Hazardous Waste / Q000032:analysis / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000379:methods*; D062611:Solid Waste / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D006256:Hazardous Waste; D062611:Solid Waste; D007854:Lead; D006046:Gold
keywords: Cupellation; Leaching; Lead extraction; Lead recovery; TCLP