Sustainable Mining and Metallurgy

As a green mining technology, the ammonium-free mining process for ion-absorbed rare earth ore adopts magnesium sulfate as leachant instead of ammonium sulfate and magnesium oxide as precipitant, essentially avoiding the impact of ammonia nitrogen on the environment. To find out the influence of the new green and ammonium-free technology on the environment, pot-grown plant tests and acute and chronic toxicity tests on zebrafish were carried out to study the concentration of magnesium sulfate on plants and fish. The experimental results show that the concentration of magnesium sulfate has an acceptable influence on the growing environment of vegetation and aquatic life, verifying the environmental feasibility of the ammonium-free mining technology.