Characterization of Post-Mining Soil and Solid Waste from Silica Sand Purification
			
	
 
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				1
				Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Civil, Planning, and Geo-Engineering, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, ITS Sukolilo Campus, Surabaya 60111, East Java – Indonesia
				 
			 
						
				2
				PT. Jara Silica, Village Jenu, Tuban Regency 62352, East Java – Indonesia
				 
			 
										
				
				
		
		 
			
			
		
		
		
		
		
		
	
							
										    		
    			 
    			
    				    					Corresponding author
    					    				    				
    					Idaa  Warmadewanthi   
    					Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Civil, Planning, and Geo-Engineering, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, ITS Sukolilo Campus, Surabaya 60111, East Java – Indonesia
    				
 
    			
				 
    			 
    		 		
			
												 
		
	 
		
 
 
J. Ecol. Eng. 2022; 23(8):277-289
		
 
 
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ABSTRACT
Post-mining soil and solid waste from the silica sand refining industry is widespread and the potential long-term impact of toxic metals and metalloids is a significant and under-appreciated issue. This study presents the characteristics of post-mining soil and solid waste resulting from silica sand purification to observe its physical, chemical, and biological composition. Analysis of the physical properties was carried out with reference to ASTM 112-10 and the results show that post-mining soil contains 36.95% sand, 18.80% clay, and 42.74% silt, with coefficients of permeability and porosity of 0.69 × 10-6 cm. s-1 and 35.84%, respectively. Meanwhile, the solid waste contains 43.35% sand, 35.96% clay, and 20.68% silt with coefficients of permeability and porosity of 1.49 × 10-6 cm.s-1 and 51.12%. The overall mineralogy and morphology of both samples showed that they have the same chemical composition as gehlenite (Ca2Al2SiO7), spinel (MgAl2O4), akermanite (Ca2MgSi2O7), monticellite (CaMgSiO4), aluminum oxide (Al2O3), magnetite (Fe3O4), and hematite (Fe2O3) supports this data. The chemical composition of both samples is SiO2, Al2O3, CaO, and MgO, but the post-mining soil has lower heavy metal and nutrient contents compared to solid waste. Meanwhile, solid waste has a high content of heavy metals and nutrients due to washing and bonding from the silica sand purification process. The abundance of bacteria (Colony Forming Unit) for the 10-4 and 10-5 dilutions in post-mining soil was 1.59 × 103 and not detected, while in the solid waste, 4.10 × 105 and 1.64 × 105 were found, respectively. This study can be used as base values for modifying the two samples, which can be applied in mining land reclamation.