{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/9610"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/9610","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"An investigation into the dissolution of pyroxene : a precursor to mineral carbonation of PGM tailings in South Africa","abstract":"Carbon sequestration through mineral carbonation is becoming an increasingly attractive alternative for mitigating excess CO₂ in the atmosphere. Mineral carbonation is a natural process whereby CO₂ is fixed to CaFeMg-silicates to form Ca-, Fe-, and Mg-carbonates. This process is thermodynamically favourable and the products are benign and stable over millions of years. Pyroxene-rich tailings generated from the processing of PGM ores in South Africa have the potential to sequester significant amounts of CO₂ (~14 Mt per annum). In the indirect pH swing method, silicate minerals are initially leached at low pH and then carbonated at high pH. A previous study on these tailings highlighted the slow extraction of cations from orthopyroxene, the major Mg-host. The low reactivity of the orthopyroxene resulted in an overall low conversion of tailings to carbonates with only 30 % for Ca, 3 % for Mg and 9 % for Fe. Under similar experimental leach conditions, ~100 % dissolution of olivine and serpentine can be achieved.","abstract_html":"Carbon sequestration through mineral carbonation is becoming an increasingly attractive alternative for mitigating excess CO₂ in the atmosphere. Mineral carbonation is a natural process whereby CO₂ is fixed to CaFeMg-silicates to form Ca-, Fe-, and Mg-carbonates. This process is thermodynamically favourable and the products are benign and stable over millions of years. Pyroxene-rich tailings generated from the processing of PGM ores in South Africa have the potential to sequester significant amounts of CO₂ (~14 Mt per annum). In the indirect pH swing method, silicate minerals are initially leached at low pH and then carbonated at high pH. A previous study on these tailings highlighted the slow extraction of cations from orthopyroxene, the major Mg-host. The low reactivity of the orthopyroxene resulted in an overall low conversion of tailings to carbonates with only 30 % for Ca, 3 % for Mg and 9 % for Fe. Under similar experimental leach conditions, ~100 % dissolution of olivine and serpentine can be achieved.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Meyer, Nicole Anne"],"institution":"Department of Chemical Engineering","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Becker, Megan","Broadhurst, Jennifer Lee","Reid, Dave"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014","date_published":"2014","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:19Z","subjects":[],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9610","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Becker, Megan","Broadhurst, Jennifer Lee","Reid, Dave"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Meyer, Nicole Anne"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-11-14T19:46:59Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-11-14T19:46:59Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2014"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Chemical Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cape Town"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["MSc"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9610"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Includes bibliographical references."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Carbon sequestration through mineral carbonation is becoming an increasingly attractive alternative for mitigating excess CO₂ in the atmosphere. Mineral carbonation is a natural process whereby CO₂ is fixed to CaFeMg-silicates to form Ca-, Fe-, and Mg-carbonates. This process is thermodynamically favourable and the products are benign and stable over millions of years. Pyroxene-rich tailings generated from the processing of PGM ores in South Africa have the potential to sequester significant amounts of CO₂ (~14 Mt per annum). In the indirect pH swing method, silicate minerals are initially leached at low pH and then carbonated at high pH. A previous study on these tailings highlighted the slow extraction of cations from orthopyroxene, the major Mg-host. The low reactivity of the orthopyroxene resulted in an overall low conversion of tailings to carbonates with only 30 % for Ca, 3 % for Mg and 9 % for Fe. Under similar experimental leach conditions, ~100 % dissolution of olivine and serpentine can be achieved."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An investigation into the dissolution of pyroxene : a precursor to mineral carbonation of PGM tailings in South Africa"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Becker, Megan","Broadhurst, Jennifer Lee","Reid, Dave"],"dc:creator":["Meyer, Nicole Anne"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-11-14T19:46:59Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-11-14T19:46:59Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2014"],"dc:description":["Includes bibliographical references."],"dc:description.abstract":["Carbon sequestration through mineral carbonation is becoming an increasingly attractive alternative for mitigating excess CO₂ in the atmosphere. Mineral carbonation is a natural process whereby CO₂ is fixed to CaFeMg-silicates to form Ca-, Fe-, and Mg-carbonates. This process is thermodynamically favourable and the products are benign and stable over millions of years. Pyroxene-rich tailings generated from the processing of PGM ores in South Africa have the potential to sequester significant amounts of CO₂ (~14 Mt per annum). In the indirect pH swing method, silicate minerals are initially leached at low pH and then carbonated at high pH. A previous study on these tailings highlighted the slow extraction of cations from orthopyroxene, the major Mg-host. The low reactivity of the orthopyroxene resulted in an overall low conversion of tailings to carbonates with only 30 % for Ca, 3 % for Mg and 9 % for Fe. Under similar experimental leach conditions, ~100 % dissolution of olivine and serpentine can be achieved."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9610"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Chemical Engineering"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape Town"],"dc:title":["An investigation into the dissolution of pyroxene : a precursor to mineral carbonation of PGM tailings in South Africa"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["MSc"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:19Z"}