POTENCIAL GEOTECNOLÓGICO DE MENAS DOLOMÍTICAS, AGUAS MADRES DE SALINAS Y ESCORIAS DE FERRONÍQUEL PARA SU EMPLEO EN LA INDUSTRIA NACIONAL

Abstract

With the objective of identifying the geotechnological potential of the mineral raw materials, as well as the waste of the geominera and salt production of the country to obtain SOREL and NOVACEM magnesium ecocements, which allow the later development and production of light panels for the national industry, reservoirs and manifestations of dolomite, ferronickel slag and mother liquor from the waste of salt production were evaluated.

The results obtained show that the geological potentials of the dolomite in Cuba are good from the geological point of view, mainly for the rocky massifs where the Remedios Group rocks that are located north of the provinces of Villa Clara and Sancti Spiritus the Sierra de Cubitas north of Camagüey and the Sierra Gibara north of Holguín, where several demonstrations with good prospects are located. For the Fm. Güines (mainly in the Havana-Matanzas region), the perspectives are more limited since the outcrops are almost always located in places with flat relief where the water table is very close to the surface, in addition the cavernosity is high and the dolomitization is considers irregular. Other areas or perspectives for the dolomites are the outcrops of the Fm. Guajaibón in Bahía Honda, Artemisa province; the dolomitic marbles of the Fm. Chafarina in Maisí, Guantánamo province and the marble formations of Isla de Juventud. From the technological point of view, waste mother liquor from salt production is the cheapest source for obtaining magnesium oxide concentrates, considering that for a production of 350,000 t / year of NaCl, 152,250 t / year would be obtained . To do this, the CIPIMM technology is proposed using NaOH, NH4OH and / or dolomite as precipitating agents of magnesium hydroxide, using the mother liquor of the Bidos saline, indicating as an aspect of interest that the reservoir brines are evaluated " Punta Alegre ", given by the lower volume of water in process compared to that of saline mother waters due to the higher magnesium content in the former, which is an advantage to be taken into account.
Finally, in the case of ferronickel slags, the acid pressure leaching technology with carbonic acid is proposed in its variant for the processing of streamers, patented in the CIPIMM by Granda et al. (1979), however, it must be validated during subsequent tests. The concentrates that could be achieved could also be used as neutralizers of (Ni + Co) acid liquors of the HPAL process in the Moa Nickel S.A plant. "Pedro Soto Moa.