Akram Nouri Kamari - Graduate Student of Department of Natural Resources, Environment Division, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran
Noorollah Mirghaffari - Assoc. Prof. of Department of Natural Resources, Environment Division, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran

Industrial wastewaters generated from industrialization activities may contain various toxic heavy metals. These heavy metals, apart from being hazardous for living organisms when exceed the specific limits, have accumulating characteristics in nature as they cannot be biodegraded. Among these heavy metals, Zinc is one of the most important pollutants for surface and ground water. Because of its acute toxicity and non-biodegradability, zinc-containing liquid and solid wastes are considered as hazardous wastes. The effective removal of heavy metals from aqueous wastes is among the most important issues for many countries. Different physical or chemical methods have been used for removing heavy metals ions in the water and wastewater treatments. The aim of this work was to assess the possibility of Zn2+ removal from aqueous solutions by mine tailings, consisting mainly shale stones, from Irankouh lead and zinc mine, situated in Isfahan province, Iran. The adsorption experiments were carried out using batch technique, and the effects of pH, initial metal concentration and contact time on adsorption efficiency were studied. The results indicated that Zn adsorption increases with pH from 2 to 7 and maximum adsorption (%53) obtained at pH 6 and initial concentration of 10 mg/l. It is demonstrated that the mine tailings could be used as a low cost and effective adsorbent for zinc.

Heavy metal; Zinc; Mine tailing; Adsorption