Study of Ni exchangeable pool speciation in ultramafic and mining environments with isotopic exchange kinetic data and models

Soils and ore samples influenced by mining and metallurgical activity were collected in ultramafic soils (UM) complexes of Barro Alto and Niquelandia, in order to determine the contribution of each Ni bearing phases to the total exchangeable pool of Ni, and to point out if this pool was affected by anthropic activities. For this purpose, the IEK-model previously developed by the group (Zelano et al., submitted) was applied, on the basis of IEK experiments performed on pure typical Ni scavengers (serpentines, chlorite, smectite and iron oxydes) from ultramafic systems. For each typical scavenger, this model describes the percentage of Ni associated to exchangeable pool(s) as well as their corresponding kinetic constant(s) of exchange. The mineralogical composition of soil and ore samples and Ni solid speciation were first determined, and the IEK-model was applied on these bases. In almost all samples, an important contribution of serpentine to Ni exchangeable pool was highlighted, ranging between 10% and 45%. The important amount of organic matter (OM) in one of the studied soil samples, allowed to extrapolate generic OM ENi and k parameters, which were introduced in the IEK-model to improve its predictive capability. Obtained results provided evidences of how even a small content (3 wt%) of organic carbon (OC), can represent an important contribution of OM to the total ENi pool (60%). In the investigated ore samples, up to the 60% of ENi was attribute to smectite, responsible for fast ENi pool kinetic evolution. In addition, the model highlighted the role of the Fine Black Ash (FBA), by-products of the pyrometallurgical activity, detected into a soil sample, that is responsible for the 15% of ENi. This approach allowed to determine, for the first time, the relative contribution of each Ni bearing phase to the total exchangeable pool, in terms of concentration and kinetics.