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Waste Production and
Utilization in the Metal
Extraction Industry
Waste Production and
Utilization in the Metal
Extraction Industry

Sehliselo Ndlovu, Geoffrey S. Simate,


and Elias Matinde
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742

© 2017 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC


CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business

No claim to original U.S. Government works

Printed on acid-free paper

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4987-6729-3(Hardback)

This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. While all reasonable efforts have
been made to publish reliable data and information, neither the author[s] nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibil-
ity or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publishers wish to make clear that any views or opinions
expressed in this book by individual editors, authors or contributors are personal to them and do not necessarily reflect
the views/opinions of the publishers. The information or guidance contained in this book is intended for use by medical,
scientific or health-care professionals and is provided strictly as a supplement to the medical or other professional’s own
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Ndlovu, Sehliselo, author. | Simate, Geoffrey S., author. | Matinde,


Elias, author.
Title: Waste production and utilization in the metal extraction industry /
Sehliselo Ndlovu, Geoffrey S. Simate, Elias Matinde.
Description: Boca Raton : Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, 2017. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016051880| ISBN 9781498767293 (hardback : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781498767309 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Metallurgical plants--Waste minimization. | Metallurgy--Waste
minimization. | Mineral industries--Environmental aspects. | Extraction
(Chemistry) | Metal wastes.
Classification: LCC TN675.5 .N39 2017 | DDC 669.028/6--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016051880

Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at


http://www.taylorandfrancis.com

and the CRC Press Web site at


http://www.crcpress.com
Contents

Preface���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xv
Authors���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� xvii

1. Overview����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������1
1.1 Introduction�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������1
1.2 Legislation and Impacts of Mining and Metallurgical Waste���������������������������������1
1.2.1 Legislation and Policies����������������������������������������������������������������������������������1
1.2.2 Environmental and Health Impacts of Mining and Metallurgical Waste������2
1.3 Mining and Beneficiation Waste Production and Utilization���������������������������������4
1.3.1 Mine Overburden and Waste Rock��������������������������������������������������������������� 4
1.3.2 Mineral Beneficiation Waste���������������������������������������������������������������������������5
1.3.3 Acid Mine Drainage����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������5
1.4 Ferrous Metals Waste Production and Utilization���������������������������������������������������5
1.5 Ferroalloys Waste Production and Utilization���������������������������������������������������������� 6
1.6 Base Metals Waste Production and Utilization��������������������������������������������������������� 7
1.7 Hydrometallurgical Waste Production and Utilization�������������������������������������������8
1.7.1 Production of Copper��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������8
1.7.2 Production of Zinc�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������9
1.7.3 Production of Alumina����������������������������������������������������������������������������������10
1.7.4 Production of Precious Metals��������������������������������������������������������������������� 10
1.7.5 Production of Strategic and Critical Metals����������������������������������������������� 11
1.8 Metal Manufacturing and Finishing Waste Production and Utilization������������ 11
1.9 Post-Consumer Waste Production and Utilization������������������������������������������������12
1.10 Conclusions and Future Outlook������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 12
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������13

2. Legislation and Policies Governing the Environmental and Health


Impacts of Metallic Waste���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������19
2.1 Introduction�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������19
2.2 Legislation and Policies����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������21
2.2.1 ISO 14000 Environmental Management System���������������������������������������21
2.2.2 Analysis of Legislation and Policies������������������������������������������������������������24
2.2.2.1 United States of America���������������������������������������������������������������24
2.2.2.2 European Union�����������������������������������������������������������������������������24
2.2.2.3 Australia������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������24
2.2.2.4 South Africa�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������27
2.2.2.5 China������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 27
2.2.2.6 India�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������28
2.2.3 Guidelines for Managing Mining and Metallurgical Waste��������������������29
2.2.3.1 Waste Rock�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 30
2.2.3.2 Tailings���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������30
2.2.3.3 Slag���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������32
2.2.3.4 Sludge����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������32
2.2.3.5 Air Emissions����������������������������������������������������������������������������������35

v
vi Contents

2.3 Environmental and Health Impacts�������������������������������������������������������������������������36


2.3.1 Leachates���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������37
2.3.1.1 Lead��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������37
2.3.1.2 Mercury��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������38
2.3.1.3 Cadmium�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������39
2.3.1.4 Chromium���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������39
2.3.1.5 Zinc���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������40
2.3.1.6 Arsenic���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������40
2.3.2 Particulate Matter������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������42
2.3.2.1 Silica�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������45
2.3.2.2 Asbestos�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������47
2.3.2.3 Coal Dust�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������49
2.3.2.4 Smelter Dust������������������������������������������������������������������������������������50
2.3.3 Gaseous Emissions����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������52
2.3.4 Wastewater and Effluent�������������������������������������������������������������������������������52
2.3.5 Other Mining and Metallurgical Effects�����������������������������������������������������52
2.4 Concluding Remarks��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������55
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������56

3. Mining and Beneficiation Waste Production and Utilization��������������������������������������65


3.1 Introduction�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������65
3.2 Mine Overburden and Waste Rock��������������������������������������������������������������������������65
3.3 Mineral Beneficiation Waste��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������66
3.3.1 Mineral Beneficiation Methods and Techniques��������������������������������������� 66
3.3.1.1 Comminution����������������������������������������������������������������������������������66
3.3.2 Characterization of Tailings�������������������������������������������������������������������������72
3.3.3 Potential Utilization of Tailings�������������������������������������������������������������������73
3.3.3.1 Reprocessing of Tailings for Metal Recovery�����������������������������74
3.3.3.2 Reprocessing of Copper Tailings��������������������������������������������������75
3.3.3.3 Reprocessing of Gold Tailings for Metal Recovery�������������������77
3.3.3.4 Reprocessing of Iron Tailings�������������������������������������������������������� 78
3.3.3.5 Reprocessing of Chrome Tailings for PGMs
and Chrome Recovery�������������������������������������������������������������������80
3.3.3.6 Tailings Utilization in the Construction Industry����������������������81
3.3.3.7 Tailings Utilization in Brick Making�������������������������������������������� 83
3.3.3.8 Other Potential Applications��������������������������������������������������������87
3.3.4 Summary���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������88
3.4 Acid Mine Drainage����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������89
3.4.1 Formation of Acid Mine Drainage��������������������������������������������������������������89
3.4.2 Prevention and Mitigation of Acid Mine Drainage����������������������������������91
3.4.2.1 Source Control Techniques�����������������������������������������������������������92
3.4.2.2 Migration Control and/Treatment Methods������������������������������ 93
3.4.3 Opportunities in Acid Mine Drainage��������������������������������������������������������96
3.4.3.1 Recovery of Metals������������������������������������������������������������������������� 96
3.4.3.2 Recovery of Water��������������������������������������������������������������������������98
3.4.3.3 Recovery of Sulphuric Acid����������������������������������������������������������99
3.4.3.4 Uses of AMD Treatment Sludge�������������������������������������������������101
3.5 Concluding Remarks������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������102
References�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������103
Contents vii

4. Ferrous Metals Waste Production and Recycling��������������������������������������������������������� 113


4.1 Introduction��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 113
4.2 Production of Iron and Steel������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 114
4.2.1 Blast Furnace Ironmaking Process������������������������������������������������������������ 115
4.2.1.1 Physicochemical Functions of the Blast Furnace��������������������� 118
4.2.1.2 Raw Materials for the Blast Furnace������������������������������������������ 119
4.2.1.3 Iron Ores���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 119
4.2.1.4 Blast Furnace Sinter��������������������������������������������������������������������� 119
4.2.1.5 Blast Furnace Pellets��������������������������������������������������������������������121
4.2.1.6 Metallurgical Coke�����������������������������������������������������������������������121
4.2.1.7 Carbon Composite Agglomerates and Ferro-Cokes���������������124
4.2.1.8 Resource Constraints in the Iron and Steelmaking Process��� 124
4.2.2 Alternative Ironmaking Processes������������������������������������������������������������� 125
4.2.2.1 Direct Reduction Ironmaking Processes�����������������������������������126
4.2.2.2 Direct Smelting Reduction Processes����������������������������������������127
4.2.3 Electric Arc Steelmaking Processes�����������������������������������������������������������129
4.2.4 Basic Oxygen Steelmaking Process����������������������������������������������������������� 130
4.2.5 Stainless Steel Refining Processes�������������������������������������������������������������� 131
4.2.6 Solidification and Casting of Steel�������������������������������������������������������������134
4.3 Refractory Materials in the Iron and Steelmaking Process���������������������������������136
4.3.1 General Considerations�������������������������������������������������������������������������������136
4.3.2 Classification of Refractory Materials�������������������������������������������������������136
4.4 Overview of Waste Generation in the Iron and Steelmaking Processes�����������140
4.5 Categories of Metallurgical Wastes Generated in Iron and Steelmaking
Unit Process���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������142
4.5.1 Metallurgical Dusts and Sludge����������������������������������������������������������������142
4.5.1.1 Generation of Particulate Dust from the Coke Production
Process��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������142
4.5.1.2 Generation of Dust from the Raw Material
Agglomeration Processes������������������������������������������������������������144
4.5.1.3 Particulate Dust Generation from Iron and Steel Unit
Processes����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������146
4.5.2 Iron and Steelmaking Slags������������������������������������������������������������������������154
4.5.2.1 Functions and Properties of Slags����������������������������������������������154
4.5.2.2 Blast Furnace Slags�����������������������������������������������������������������������156
4.5.2.3 Steelmaking Slags�������������������������������������������������������������������������157
4.6 Recycling and Reuse of Iron and Steelmaking Wastes����������������������������������������161
4.6.1 Recycling and Reuse of Raw Materials Agglomeration Dusts
and Sludges���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������162
4.6.2 Recycling and Reuse of Blast Furnace Ironmaking Dusts and Sludges���� 164
4.6.3 Recycling and Reuse of Blast Furnace Ironmaking Slags����������������������165
4.6.3.1 Granulated Blast Furnace Slags as Construction Materials��� 165
4.6.3.2 Granulated Blast Furnace Slags as Adsorbent Materials��������166
4.6.3.3 Granulated Blast Furnace Slags as Geopolymeric
Materials����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������166
4.6.3.4 Slow-Cooled Blast Furnace Slags�����������������������������������������������166
4.6.4 Recycling and Reuse of Steelmaking Dusts and Sludges����������������������167
4.6.4.1 Direct Reduction Processing of Agglomerated Dust��������������168
4.6.4.2 Smelting Reduction Processing of Steelmaking Dust�������������171
viii Contents

4.6.5 Plasma-Based Processing of Steelmaking Dusts�������������������������������������172


4.6.5.1 Fundamentals of Thermal Plasma Processing�������������������������172
4.6.6 Hydrometallurgical Processing of Steelmaking Dusts��������������������������� 174
4.6.7 Solidification and Stabilization (S/S) of Steelmaking Dusts�����������������177
4.6.7.1 Fundamentals of Waste Stabilization and Solidification��������178
4.6.7.2 Solidification���������������������������������������������������������������������������������178
4.6.7.3 Stabilization�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������178
4.6.7.4 Stabilization and Solidification of Steelmaking Wastes
Using Cementitious Systems������������������������������������������������������179
4.6.7.5 Stabilization of Steelmaking Waste Using Geopolymer
Systems������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������179
4.6.7.6 Thermal Vitrification of Steelmaking Dusts����������������������������� 181
4.6.8 Recycling and Reuse of Steelmaking Slags����������������������������������������������183
4.6.8.1 Electric Arc, Basic Oxygen and Ladle Furnace Slags��������������183
4.6.8.2 Recovery of Entrained Metallic Elements from
Steelmaking Slags�������������������������������������������������������������������������184
4.6.8.3 Utilization of Steelmaking Slags as Construction
Materials����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������185
4.6.9 Recycling and Reuse of Continuous Casting Slags���������������������������������187
4.6.10 Recycling and Reuse of Iron and Steelmaking Refractory Materials���187
4.6.10.1 Classification of Spent Refractory Materials����������������������������188
4.6.10.2 Overview of Current Refractory Materials Recycling and
Reuse Practices�����������������������������������������������������������������������������189
4.6.10.3 Fundamentals of Slag Foaming Practice�����������������������������������190
4.7 Trends and Challenges to Waste Reduction in the Iron and Steelmaking
Process������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������191
4.8 Concluding Remarks������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������192
References�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������195

5. Ferroalloys Waste Production and Utilization��������������������������������������������������������������209


5.1 Introduction���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������209
5.2 Ferroalloys Production Processes���������������������������������������������������������������������������210
5.2.1 Introduction��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������210
5.2.2 Production of Bulk Ferroalloys������������������������������������������������������������������210
5.2.3 Production of Noble Ferroalloys��������������������������������������������������������������� 211
5.2.4 Overview of Waste Production in Ferroalloys Industry������������������������212
5.3 Production of Chromium and Its Alloys���������������������������������������������������������������213
5.3.1 Chemical and Physical Properties of Chromium������������������������������������213
5.3.2 Industrial Uses of Chromium��������������������������������������������������������������������214
5.3.2.1 Metallurgical Uses of Chromium as an Alloying Element�����214
5.3.2.2 Chromium Uses in High-Temperature Refractory
Materials����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������216
5.3.2.3 Chromium Uses in Chemicals Industry������������������������������������216
5.3.3 Occurrence of Chromium���������������������������������������������������������������������������217
5.3.4 Beneficiation of Chromite Ores������������������������������������������������������������������ 218
5.3.4.1 Agglomeration of Chromite Ore Fines��������������������������������������219
5.3.5 Smelting of Chromite Ores�������������������������������������������������������������������������220
5.3.5.1 Carbothermic Reduction of Chromite Ores������������������������������ 221
5.3.5.2 Classification of Ferrochromium Alloys����������������������������������� 223
Contents ix

5.3.5.3 High-Carbon Ferrochromium Alloys���������������������������������������� 223


5.3.5.4 Medium-Carbon Ferrochromium Alloys���������������������������������� 225
5.3.5.5 Low-Carbon Ferrochromium Alloys�����������������������������������������227
5.3.6 Waste Generation in Ferrochromium Production Processes�����������������228
5.3.6.1 Particulate Dust Emissions in the Production of
Ferrochromium Alloys����������������������������������������������������������������228
5.3.6.2 Particulate Dusts from the Agglomeration Processes of
Chromite Ores�������������������������������������������������������������������������������229
5.3.6.3 Particulate Dust Emission from Smelting of Chromite Ores�����230
5.3.7 Recycling and Utilization of Ferrochromium Smelter Particulate
Dusts��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������233
5.3.7.1 Metal Recovery and Recycling of Ferrochromium
Smelter Dusts��������������������������������������������������������������������������������234
5.3.7.2 Stabilization and/or Solidification of Ferrochromium
Smelter Dusts��������������������������������������������������������������������������������235
5.3.8 Physicochemical Characteristics of Ferrochromium Alloy Slags���������236
5.3.8.1 Mineralogical Phases of Ferrochromium Alloy Slags�������������237
5.3.9 Recycling and Reuse of Ferrochromium Alloy Slags�����������������������������238
5.3.9.1 Factors Affecting Chromium Losses to Slag�����������������������������238
5.3.9.2 Metal Recovery from Ferrochromium Smelter Slags�������������� 239
5.3.9.3 Stabilization of Chromium Using Engineered Slag Properties���� 240
5.3.9.4 Reuse of Ferrochromium Smelter Slags as Construction
Materials����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������243
5.3.9.5 Summary���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������243
5.4 Production of Manganese and Its Alloys���������������������������������������������������������������244
5.4.1 Chemical and Physical Properties of Manganese�����������������������������������244
5.4.2 Uses of Manganese and Its Alloys������������������������������������������������������������� 244
5.4.2.1 Metallurgical Uses of Manganese as an Alloying Element����244
5.4.2.2 Uses of Manganese in Chemicals Industry������������������������������ 245
5.4.3 Occurrence of Manganese��������������������������������������������������������������������������245
5.4.4 Beneficiation of Manganese Ores�������������������������������������������������������������� 247
5.4.4.1 Agglomeration of Manganese Ore Fines����������������������������������247
5.4.5 Production of Manganese Alloys��������������������������������������������������������������248
5.4.5.1 High-Carbon Ferromanganese Alloys��������������������������������������249
5.4.5.2 Silicomanganese Alloys��������������������������������������������������������������� 251
5.4.5.3 Medium-Carbon Ferromanganese Alloys��������������������������������252
5.4.5.4 Silicothermic Reduction��������������������������������������������������������������252
5.4.5.5 Converter Decarburization Process�������������������������������������������253
5.4.6 Waste Generation in the Production of Manganese Ferroalloys�����������254
5.4.6.1 Particulate Dust Emissions in Production of Manganese
Ferroalloys�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������254
5.4.6.2 Physicochemical Properties of Particulate Dusts�������������������� 255
5.4.6.3 In-Process Recycling of Ferromanganese Alloys
Particulate Dusts��������������������������������������������������������������������������256
5.4.6.4 Recycling and Reuse of Alloy Fines������������������������������������������� 257
5.4.6.5 Characteristics of Manganese Ferroalloy Slags������������������������257
5.4.6.6 Recycling and Reuse of Ferromanganese Alloy Slags������������259
5.4.6.7 Recovery of Manganese from Ferromanganese Alloy Slags�����259
5.4.6.8 Hydrometallurgical Processing of Ferromanganese Slags�����260
x Contents

5.5 Silicon and Its Alloys������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������263


5.5.1 Chemical and Physical Properties of Silicon��������������������������������������������263
5.5.2 Occurrence of Silicon�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������263
5.5.3 Industrial and Commercial Applications of Silicon�������������������������������� 264
5.5.3.1 Metallurgical Applications of Silicon����������������������������������������264
5.5.3.2 Chemical Refining Process of Metallurgical-Grade
Silicon�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������266
5.5.3.3 Metallurgical Refining Process of Metallurgical-Grade
Silicon���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������267
5.5.3.4 Silicon Applications in Chemicals and Polymers��������������������268
5.5.4 Production of Silicon and Its Alloys���������������������������������������������������������� 269
5.5.4.1 General Considerations in the Production of Silicon and
Ferrosilicon Alloys�����������������������������������������������������������������������269
5.5.4.2 Characteristics of Silicon-Bearing Raw Materials��������������������271
5.5.4.3 Characteristics of Carbon Reductant Materials�����������������������272
5.5.4.4 Composition of Industrial-Grade Silicon����������������������������������273
5.5.4.5 Composition of Ferrosilicon Alloys�������������������������������������������274
5.5.5 Physicochemical Characteristics of Silicon and Ferrosilicon Slags������274
5.5.6 Physicochemical Characteristics of Silica Fume Dust����������������������������275
5.5.6.1 Utilization of Silica Fume Waste Dusts�������������������������������������276
5.5.6.2 Utilization of Silica Fume in Ceramic and Composite
Materials����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������277
5.5.6.3 Utilization of Silica Fume in Cementitious Systems��������������� 277
5.5.6.4 Summary��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 278
5.6 Concluding Remarks������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������279
References�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������280

6. Base Metals Waste Production and Utilization�������������������������������������������������������������299


6.1 Introduction���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������299
6.2 Pyrometallurgical Extraction of Copper����������������������������������������������������������������299
6.2.1 Chemical and Physical Properties�������������������������������������������������������������299
6.2.2 Industrial Uses of Copper and Copper Alloys����������������������������������������300
6.2.3 Occurrence of Copper���������������������������������������������������������������������������������300
6.2.4 Mining and Beneficiation of Copper-Bearing Ores���������������������������������302
6.2.5 Concentration of Copper-Bearing Minerals by Flotation Process��������303
6.2.6 Production of Copper from Copper-Iron Sulphide Concentrates�������� 303
6.2.6.1 Fundamentals Considerations���������������������������������������������������� 303
6.2.6.2 Smelting of Copper Sulphide Concentrates�����������������������������303
6.2.6.3 Converting of Copper Mattes����������������������������������������������������� 304
6.2.6.4 Fire Refining of Blister Copper��������������������������������������������������� 305
6.2.6.5 Electrorefining of Copper Anodes��������������������������������������������� 305
6.3 Pyrometallurgical Processing of Nickel, Cobalt and Platinum
Group Metals�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������306
6.3.1 Chemical and Physical Properties of Nickel, Cobalt and Platinum
Group Metals������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������306
6.3.1.1 Chemical and Physical Properties of Nickel���������������������������� 306
6.3.1.2 Chemical and Physical Properties of Cobalt����������������������������306
6.3.1.3 Chemical and Physical Properties of Platinum Group Metals����306
Contents xi

6.3.2 Industrial and Commercial Uses of Nickel, Cobalt and Platinum


Group Metals������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������307
6.3.2.1 Nickel and Cobalt�������������������������������������������������������������������������307
6.3.2.2 Industrial and Commercial Uses of Platinum Group Metals����� 307
6.3.3 Occurrence of Nickel, Cobalt and Platinum Group Metals�������������������310
6.3.3.1 Occurrence of Nickel�������������������������������������������������������������������310
6.3.3.2 Occurrence of Cobalt�������������������������������������������������������������������310
6.3.3.3 Occurrence of Platinum Group Metals������������������������������������� 310
6.3.4 Primary Production Processes of Nickel, Cobalt and Platinum
Group Metals������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 311
6.3.4.1 Fundamentals of Nickel Production������������������������������������������ 311
6.3.4.2 Fundamentals of Cobalt Production�����������������������������������������312
6.3.4.3 Fundamentals of Platinum Group Metals Production�����������313
6.3.4.4 Beneficiation of Base Metal and Platinum Group Metal
Sulphide Minerals������������������������������������������������������������������������314
6.3.4.5 Smelting and Converting of Nickel, Cobalt and Platinum
Group Metal Concentrates����������������������������������������������������������315
6.3.4.6 Converting of Sulphide Mattes��������������������������������������������������315
6.3.4.7 Refining of High-Grade Nickel and Cobalt Matte������������������316
6.3.4.8 Sulphide Smelting Peculiar to Platinum Group Metal
Concentrates����������������������������������������������������������������������������������317
6.3.4.9 Converting and Refining of PGM Mattes..................................317
6.4 Waste Production and Utilization in the Base Metal Production Processes�����318
6.4.1 General Considerations�������������������������������������������������������������������������������318
6.4.2 Smelter and Converter Particulate Dusts�������������������������������������������������319
6.4.3 Recycling and Treatment of Base Metal Smelter Particulate Dusts������321
6.4.4 Gaseous Emissions��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������323
6.4.5 Physicochemical Characterization of Base Metal Slags�������������������������323
6.4.6 Recycling, Metal Recovery and Utilization of Base Metal Slags�����������325
6.5 Concluding Remarks������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������325
References�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������326

7. Hydrometallurgical Waste Production and Utilization����������������������������������������������� 331


7.1 Introduction���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������331
7.2 Leaching���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������332
7.2.1 Acidic and Alkaline Leaching��������������������������������������������������������������������332
7.2.2 Leaching with Metal Salts���������������������������������������������������������������������������333
7.2.3 Bioleaching����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������333
7.3 Purification and Concentration Processes�������������������������������������������������������������334
7.3.1 Chemical Precipitation Processes��������������������������������������������������������������335
7.3.2 Solvent Extraction����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������337
7.3.3 Ion Exchange������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������339
7.3.4 Adsorption Processes����������������������������������������������������������������������������������340
7.3.5 Biosorption Processes����������������������������������������������������������������������������������341
7.4 Electrochemical Processes����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������342
7.4.1 Cementation Processes��������������������������������������������������������������������������������342
7.4.2 Electrowinning���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������343
7.4.3 Electrorefining����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������343
xii Contents

7.5 Base Metals Production��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������344


7.5.1 Production of Copper����������������������������������������������������������������������������������344
7.5.1.1 Crud Formation, Treatment and Recycle����������������������������������346
7.5.1.2 Treatment of Anode Slimes from Copper Electrolytic Refining����347
7.5.2 Nickel and Cobalt Production��������������������������������������������������������������������350
7.5.3 Production of Zinc��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 351
7.5.3.1 Jarosite Production and Utilization�������������������������������������������352
7.5.3.2 Potential Utilization of Jarosite�������������������������������������������������� 353
7.5.3.3 Goethite Production and Utilization�����������������������������������������356
7.5.3.4 Potential Utilization of Goethite������������������������������������������������356
7.5.3.5 Hematite Production and Utilization����������������������������������������357
7.5.3.6 Summary��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 358
7.5.4 The Bayer Process for Alumina Production���������������������������������������������358
7.5.4.1 Characterization of the Red Mud�����������������������������������������������360
7.5.4.2 Utilization of Red Mud����������������������������������������������������������������360
7.5.4.3 Metallurgical Utilization through Metal Recovery�����������������361
7.5.4.4 Recovery of Iron��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 363
7.5.4.5 Recovery of Aluminium and Titanium�������������������������������������364
7.5.4.6 Recovery of Rare Earth Elements�����������������������������������������������365
7.5.4.7 Utilization of Red Mud in Building and Construction
Materials����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������367
7.5.4.8 Glass-Ceramics and Pigments���������������������������������������������������� 369
7.5.4.9 Other Applications�����������������������������������������������������������������������369
7.5.4.10 Summary��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 370
7.6 Precious Metals Production�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������371
7.6.1 Production of Gold��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������371
7.6.1.1 Recovery and Recycling of Cyanide from Gold Tailings�������� 372
7.6.2 Production of Platinum Group Metals�����������������������������������������������������374
7.6.2.1 Recovery of PGMs from Refining Waste�����������������������������������375
7.7 Strategic and Critical Metals������������������������������������������������������������������������������������377
7.7.1 Production of Uranium�������������������������������������������������������������������������������377
7.7.2 Production of Rare Earth Elements����������������������������������������������������������� 381
7.8 Final Remarks������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������382
References�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������382

8. Metal Manufacturing and Finishing Waste Production and Utilization�����������������395


8.1 Introduction���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������395
8.2 Metal Forming Processes�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������396
8.2.1 General Considerations of the Rolling Process���������������������������������������397
8.2.2 Cold Rolling Process������������������������������������������������������������������������������������397
8.2.3 Hot Rolling Process�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������398
8.2.4 Formation of Adherent Oxide Scale during the
Reheating Process����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������399
8.2.5 Adherent Oxide Scale Formation during the Heat Treatment
of Formed Products�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������399
8.2.6 Characteristics of Adherent Oxide Layers�����������������������������������������������400
8.2.7 Recycling and Utilization of Surface Oxide Scale Material�������������������401
8.3 Pickling of Formed and Heat-Treated Steel Products������������������������������������������402
8.3.1 Overview of the Pickling Process�������������������������������������������������������������� 402
Contents xiii

8.3.2 Preliminary Pickling Processes������������������������������������������������������������������403


8.3.3 Final Pickling Processes������������������������������������������������������������������������������404
8.3.4 Waste Generation in Pickling Process�������������������������������������������������������404
8.4 Metal Finishing Processes����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������407
8.4.1 Electroplating and Surface Treatment Processes�������������������������������������407
8.4.2 Galvanizing Process������������������������������������������������������������������������������������408
8.4.3 Waste Generation from Electroplating and Galvanizing Coating
Processes�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������408
8.4.4 Treatment of Electroplating and Galvanizing Waste Streams���������������409
8.4.5 Waste Recycling and Utilization from Pickling and Metal
Finishing Processes��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������409
8.4.5.1 Metal Recovery from Pickling and Plating Sludges.................409
8.4.5.2 Treatment and Regeneration of Spent Pickling Solutions.......410
8.5 Foundry Processes����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������410
8.5.1 Introduction�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 410
8.5.2 Process Description of Foundry Processes�����������������������������������������������412
8.5.3 Generation of Waste Streams in the Foundry Melting Process�������������413
8.5.3.1 General Fundamentals���������������������������������������������������������������� 413
8.5.3.2 Waste Generation in the Melting Process���������������������������������413
8.5.4 Generation of Waste Streams in the Moulding Process�������������������������416
8.5.4.1 Fundamental Considerations�����������������������������������������������������416
8.5.4.2 Sand Moulding Processes�����������������������������������������������������������418
8.5.4.3 Waste Generation in the Moulding Process�����������������������������421
8.5.5 Recycling and Utilization of Foundry Process Wastes���������������������������421
8.6 Concluding Remarks������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������421
References�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������422

9. Post-Consumer Waste Production and Utilization������������������������������������������������������� 427


9.1 Introduction��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 427
9.2 Legislation and Policies Governing Post-Consumer Wastes������������������������������427
9.3 Recyclable Metals������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������428
9.3.1 Aluminium���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������430
9.3.1.1 Chemical and Physical Properties of Aluminium�������������������430
9.3.1.2 Occurrence�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������431
9.3.1.3 Uses of Aluminium����������������������������������������������������������������������433
9.3.1.4 Post-Consumer Recycling Processes�����������������������������������������433
9.3.2 Copper�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������435
9.3.2.1 Chemical and Physical Properties of Copper���������������������������435
9.3.2.2 Occurrence�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������436
9.3.2.3 Uses of Copper�����������������������������������������������������������������������������436
9.3.2.4 Post-Consumer Recycling Processes�����������������������������������������437
9.3.3 Lead���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������438
9.3.3.1 Chemical and Physical Properties of Lead�������������������������������438
9.3.3.2 Occurrence�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������439
9.3.3.3 Uses of Lead����������������������������������������������������������������������������������439
9.3.3.4 Post-Consumer Recycling Processes�����������������������������������������440
9.3.4 Zinc����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������444
9.3.4.1 Chemical and Physical Properties of Zinc�������������������������������� 444
9.3.4.2 Occurrence�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������444
xiv Contents

9.3.4.3 Uses of Zinc�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������445


9.3.4.4 Post-Consumer Recycling Processes�����������������������������������������445
9.3.5 Tin�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������447
9.3.5.1 Chemical and Physical Properties of Tin����������������������������������447
9.3.5.2 Occurrence�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������448
9.3.5.3 Uses of Tin�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������448
9.3.5.4 Post-Consumer Recycling Processes�����������������������������������������449
9.3.5.5 Pretreatment����������������������������������������������������������������������������������450
9.3.5.6 Extraction���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������451
9.3.6 Steel����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������452
9.3.6.1 Introduction����������������������������������������������������������������������������������452
9.3.6.2 Types of Steel��������������������������������������������������������������������������������453
9.3.6.3 Uses of Steel����������������������������������������������������������������������������������453
9.3.6.4 Post-Consumer Recycling Processes�����������������������������������������454
9.4 Critical Post-Consumer Sectors�������������������������������������������������������������������������������458
9.4.1 Electronic Waste�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������460
9.4.1.1 Introduction����������������������������������������������������������������������������������460
9.4.1.2 Post-Consumer Recycling Processes�����������������������������������������460
9.4.2 Spent Catalysts���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������466
9.4.2.1 Introduction����������������������������������������������������������������������������������466
9.4.2.2 Post-Consumer Recycling Processes�����������������������������������������466
9.4.3 Automobile���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������470
9.4.3.1 Introduction����������������������������������������������������������������������������������470
9.4.3.2 Post-Consumer Recycling Processes�����������������������������������������470
9.4.4 Household Equipment�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 473
9.4.4.1 Post-Consumer Recycling Processes�����������������������������������������473
9.5 Concluding Remarks������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������474
References�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������475

10. Conclusions and Future Outlook������������������������������������������������������������������������������������487


10.1 Introduction���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������487
10.2 Challenges������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������489
10.2.1 Lack of Adequate Regulatory Frameworks and Policies�����������������������489
10.2.2 Complexity of the Residue Material versus Available Technology������������ 490
10.2.3 Economic Viability���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������491
10.2.4 Market Availability and Acceptance of the Secondary Products���������� 492
10.3 Future Outlook����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������493
10.3.1 Waste Management and Utilization Options������������������������������������������� 494
10.3.1.1 Zero Waste Process Approach����������������������������������������������������494
10.3.1.2 Synergy between the Residue Producers and Residue
End Users: Industrial Symbiosis������������������������������������������������495
10.3.2 Process Integration and Intensification����������������������������������������������������496
10.3.2.1 An Integrated Approach to Mineral Waste Utilization����������496
10.3.2.2 Process Intensification�����������������������������������������������������������������497
10.4 Concluding Remarks������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������498
References�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������499
Index���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������501
Preface

The depletion of high-grade and easy-to-process metallic ores and demand for finished
metal products is posing a serious challenge to the metals industry. The challenge of
resource depletion, coupled with the difficulties in finding new metal resources, could have
serious implications for global economic growth. In the meantime, significant amounts of
mineral and metal waste with potential economic value continue to pile up as waste on the
earth’s surface. If these wastes can be recycled and reused efficiently, not only will it result
in a reduction in the exploitation of virgin primary mineral resources, but it will also lead
to the utilization of abandoned minerals and metallic waste, which would otherwise be an
environmental nuisance. In recent years, there have been many developments in the field of
recycling and reuse of minerals and metallic wastes; therefore, the prime aim of this book is
to provide a useful reference for engineers and researchers in industry and academia on the
current status and future trends in the recycling and reuse of minerals and metallic wastes.
The book details the current trends in technology, policy and legislation regarding waste
management in the mining, beneficiation, metal extraction and manufacturing processes
and includes some aspects on metal recovery from post-consumer waste.
The book is divided into 10 chapters, each providing comprehensive reviews of major
research accomplishments and up-to-date methods, tools and techniques for recycling and
reusing of minerals and metallic wastes. The first chapter is of an introductory nature.
Chapter 2 considers the impact of the waste on the environment and health and the associ-
ated policies and legislation that have been created to regulate and manage waste produc-
tion. Chapter 3 gives a general background on the mining and beneficiation processes and
the subsequent production of mining and beneficiation wastes. This is followed by
Chapters 4 through 6, which cover the pyrometallurgical processes and related waste.
These chapters deal specifically with the types and/or categories of the waste produced in
the selected pyrometallurgical unit processes and cover the emerging trends and innova-
tions in terms of the reduction, recycling and reuse of the mining and metallurgical waste
in the selected processing units. Chapter 7 focuses on the generation, recycling and reuse
of solid and liquid waste from hydrometallurgical unit processes. Chapter 8 addresses the
production of and the reuse and/or recycling of manufacturing and metal finishing waste.
The recycling of post-consumer waste materials, which include electronic waste, spent
catalysts, automobile and household equipment is covered in Chapter 9. The final chapter
integrates the various issues covered in the whole book. The chapter also explores the
existing and emerging challenges and ­discusses future prospects.
This book does not oblige the readers to proceed in a systematic manner from one ­chapter
to the next. By the nature of the subject, there are many parallel developments and
cross-linkages between the chapters. Therefore, the readers can start at any point in the
book and work backward or forward, and we have provided adequate cross-references
within the different chapters.
No undertaking of this nature can be accomplished in isolation; therefore, we greatly
acknowledge the enormous contribution to our knowledge and understanding by sources
which are listed in the references at the end of each chapter. Finally, we thank the University
of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, for the support given during the com-
pilation of this book.

xv
Authors

Sehliselo Ndlovu is an associate professor in the School of Chemical and Metallurgical


Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her spe-
cialization is in extractive metallurgy and in particular, mineral processing, hydrometal-
lurgy, biohydrometallurgy and the treatment of industrial and mining effluents. She holds
a Diploma of Imperial College (DIC) in hydrometallurgy and a PhD in minerals engineer-
ing from Imperial College, London, in the United Kingdom. She has more than 12 years of
experience in the metallurgical engineering field. Sehliselo currently holds a DST/NRF
SARChI professorial chair in hydrometallurgy and sustainable development at the
University of the Witwatersrand.

Geoffrey S. Simate is an associate professor in the School of Chemical and Metallurgical


Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He has more than 9 years
of hydrometallurgical industrial experience and has held various senior metallurgical
engineering positions. He holds a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of the
Witwatersrand, and has published several scientific journal articles, seven book chapters
and one edited book.

Elias Matinde is a senior lecturer in the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering
at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He has extensive experience in the
scientific and applied research and development of metallurgical processes and in techni-
cal consultancy and metallurgical advisory in diverse areas of metallurgical processes.
He holds a PhD in metallurgical engineering from Tohoku University in Japan and is a
registered professional engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa.

xvii
1
Overview

1.1 Introduction
Mining is a complex process whose activities range from exploration, mine development,
mineral extraction, mineral processing (mineral beneficiation), refining and reclamation
and remediation (for mine closure). It also covers a wide range of mineral commodities,
including copper, iron, gold, nickel, lead, zinc and diamonds. These metals and minerals
are the primary raw materials used in many industrial applications and thus are essential
to the world economy. Copper, for example, is essential to the electronics and construction
industries, while iron ore provides the base material for the steel, automotive and trans-
portation industries. However, the extraction and beneficiation of these minerals from raw
ore lead to the generation of large quantities and different types of waste. The effect of
some of these wastes on the environment is dire and may also threaten the health and
safety of humans. This book discusses the different types of mine waste generated and
recovery thereof during the mining process right from the mineral extraction to the benefi-
ciation and recovery processes to the manufacturing of finished products. This introduc-
tory chapter is a preamble to that discussion.

1.2 Legislation and Impacts of Mining and Metallurgical Waste


Mining and metallurgical wastes come from the survey or prospecting or mining and
processing of solid, liquid and gaseous deposits, which due to their high content of
heavy metals and other hazardous substances constitute a potential hazard (to human
health, plant life and aquatic species) and may cause irreversible environmental
­damage. Some of the potential environmental problems associated with mining are
listed in Table 1.1 (UNEP, 2000). In view of this, a wide range of regulations have been
introduced to mitigate the environmental and potential health impacts of mining and
metallurgical waste.

1.2.1 Legislation and Policies


The problems described in Table 1.1 are not insurmountable, but do present significant
challenges. To begin with, the environmental agenda has now become too complex for ad
hoc approaches. Therefore, several waste management regulations and laws have been

1
2 Waste Production and Utilization in the Metal Extraction Industry

TABLE 1.1
Some Potential Environmental Impacts of Mining
Environmental Impacts Pollution Impacts Occupational Health Impacts

Destruction of natural habitat at the Drainage from mining sites, Handling of chemicals, residues
mining site and at waste disposal including acid mine drainage and and products
sites pumped mine water Dust inhalation
Destruction of adjacent habitats as a Sediment run-off from mining sites Fugitive emissions within the
result of emissions and discharges Pollution from mining operations plant
Destruction of adjacent habitats in riverbeds Air emissions in confined spaces
arising from the influx of settlers Effluent from minerals processing from transport, blasting,
Changes in river regime and operations combustion
ecology due to siltation and flow Sewage effluent from the site Exposure to asbestos, cyanide,
modification Oil and fuel spills mercury or other toxic materials
Alteration in water tables Soil contamination from treatment used on-site
Change in landform residues and spillage of chemicals Exposure to heat, noise and
Land degradation due to Leaching of pollutants from vibration
inadequate rehabilitation after tailings and disposal areas and Physical risks at the plant or at
closure contaminated soils the site
Land instability Air emissions from minerals Unsanitary living conditions
Danger from failure of structures processing operations
and dams Dust emissions from sites close to
Abandoned equipment, plant and living areas or habitats
buildings Release of methane from mines

Source: UNEP, Ind. Environ., 23, 1, 2000.

enacted and promulgated over the years. In general, waste management laws govern the
transport, treatment, storage and disposal of waste (Qasioun, 2015; Shantgiri, 2015).
Generally, the mining and metallurgical industries produce solid, liquid and gaseous
wastes. It is the management of these wastes that is a target of several international,
national and regional laws. At the moment, the ISO 14000 family of standards is the
only (or most) recognized framework that may help an organization to identify those
aspects of its business that have a significant impact on the environment, to set
­objectives and targets to minimize these impacts and to develop programmes to achieve
targets and implement operational control measures to ensure compliance with envi-
ronmental policies (Beejadhur et al., 2007; ISO, 2009). Nevertheless, various countries
have developed different approaches for managing waste which differ both in the leg-
islative scope and effectiveness (Kumar and Singh, 2013). Therefore, in the absence of
a single agreed-upon legislation and/or policy governing mining wastes, this book
will only discuss the mining regulations from a selected number of countries. The book
also discusses the best available practices and/or technologies for managing waste
rock, tailings, slags, sludge and gaseous emissions.

1.2.2 Environmental and Health Impacts of Mining and Metallurgical Waste


Environmental and human health protection is the number one priority of any piece of
legislation in the mining and metallurgical industry. In addition to the legislation and
­policies governing mining waste, Chapter 2 of this book also analyses the environmen-
tal and health impacts of various mining wastes, some of which are summarized in
Table 1.2.
Overview 3

TABLE 1.2
Pollutants in Wastewater Streams and Their Impacts
Type of
Pollutant Impact References

Heavy metals The toxicity or poisoning of heavy metals results from the Simate and Ndlovu
disruption of metabolic functions. Heavy metals disrupt the (2014)
metabolic functions in two ways: (1) they accumulate in vital
organs and glands such as the heart, brain, kidneys, bone and
liver where they disrupt their important functions, and (2) they
inhibit the absorption, interfere with or displace the vital
nutritional minerals from their original place, thereby, hindering
their biological functions. Plants experience oxidative stress upon
exposure to heavy metals that leads to cellular damage and
disturbance of cellular ionic homeostasis, thus disrupting the
physiology and morphology of plants.
Acidity There is an indirect, but devastating effect of high acidity. For Goyer et al. (1985);
example, acidification increases bioconversion of mercury to Simate and Ndlovu
methylmercury, which accumulates in fish, increasing the risk to (2014)
toxicity in people who eat fish. When the soil pH is low, nitrogen,
phosphorus and potassium are tied up in the soil and not
available to plants. Calcium and magnesium, which are essential
plant nutrients, may also be absent or deficient in low-pH soils.
At low pH, toxic elements such as aluminium, iron and
manganese are also released from soil particles, thus increasing
their toxicity. Furthermore, if soil pH is low, the activity of soil
organisms that break down organic matter is reduced.
Residual organic Adverse health effects of exposure to high levels of organic WHO (2010);
chemicals chemicals, particularly persistent organic pollutants, include Lenntech (2016)
cancer, damage to the nervous system, reproductive disorders,
disruption of the immune system, allergies and hypersensitivity,
sensory system, endocrine system and death. During the
decomposition process of organic compounds, the dissolved
oxygen in the receiving water may be used up at a greater rate
than it can be replenished, causing oxygen depletion and having
severe consequences on the biota. Organic effluents also
frequently contain large quantities of suspended solids which
reduce the light available to photosynthetic organisms and, on
settling out, alter the characteristics of the river bed, rendering it
an unsuitable habitat for many invertebrates.
Organometallic Organometallic compounds are metal complexes containing at least WHO (2006); Engel
compounds one direct, covalent metal-carbon bond. Organification (e.g. et al. (2009)
methylation) of metals generally increases their toxicity by
rendering them more lipid soluble and facilitating their crossing
of lipid barriers such as the cell membrane or blood-tissue (e.g.
blood–brain) barriers. For example, tin in its inorganic form is
considered non-toxic, but is toxic in organotin compounds. The
toxicity of organometallic compounds is related to their
accumulation degree in cells of living organisms, and their actions
include blocking metabolic processes, disorders of barrier
functions of intestine epithelial cells and the initiation of the
apoptosis of nerve cells.
(Continued)
4 Waste Production and Utilization in the Metal Extraction Industry

TABLE 1.2 (Continued)


Pollutants in Wastewater Streams and Their Impacts
Type of
Pollutant Impact References

Sulphates There is no definite sulphate dose that would induce adverse Fawell et al. (2004a)
health effects in adults, and thus there is no set a health-based
standard for sulphate in drinking water. However, dehydration
and diarrhoea are common side effects following the ingestion of
large amounts of sulphate-containing compounds.
Hydrogen There is scantily available data on the oral toxicity of hydrogen Fawell et al. (2003)
sulphide sulphide. However, alkali sulphides irritate mucous membranes
and can cause nausea, vomiting and epigastric pain following
ingestion. The oral dose of sodium sulphide fatal to humans has
been estimated at 10–15 g.
Nitrates The toxicity of nitrate to humans is mainly attributable to its Cotruvo et al. (2011)
reduction to nitrite. The major biological effect of nitrite in
humans is its involvement in the oxidation of normal
haemoglobin (Hb) to methaemoglobinaemia (metHb), which is
unable to transport oxygen to the tissues.
Methaemoglobinaemia, causes cyanosis and, at higher
concentrations, asphyxia. Other suggested effects include
congenital malformations, goitre and cancer.
Cyanide The health effects of large amounts of cyanide are similar, WHO (2004); Taylor
whether through breathing air, eating food or drinking water et al. (2006)
that contains it. The effects of acute cyanide exposure are
dominated by central nervous system and cardiovascular
disturbances. Typical signs of acute cyanide poisoning include
tachypnoea, headache, vertigo, lack of motor coordination, weak
pulse, cardiac arrhythmias, vomiting, stupor, convulsions and
coma. Other symptoms include gastrointestinal tract
disturbances, trauma and enlarged thyroid. Pathological
findings may include tracheal congestion with haemorrhage,
cerebral and pulmonary oedema, gastric erosions and petechiae
of the brain meninges and pericardium.
Fluoride The most obvious health effect of excess fluoride exposure is dental Fawell et al. (2004b)
fluorosis, which when mild includes white streaks, and when severe
can include brown stains, pits and broken enamel. Elevated fluoride
intakes can also have more serious effects on skeletal tissues.

1.3 Mining and Beneficiation Waste Production and Utilization


As already stated in the introductory section of this chapter, mining is a complicated process
involving several different steps. Chapter 3 will only give a general background on mining
and beneficiation processes and the subsequent production and utilization of mining and
beneficiation wastes. Some of these mining and beneficiations wastes are briefly introduced
in the succeeding text. Acid mine drainage (AMD), a product of the oxidative dissolution of
sulphide minerals in mining and beneficiation wastes, is also discussed in Chapter 3.

1.3.1 Mine Overburden and Waste Rock


Mining operations generate two types of wastes: overburden and waste rock or mine
development rock. Overburden results from the development of surface mines
Overview 5

(or open pits), while waste rock is a by-product of mineral extraction in both surface and
underground mines. Overburden includes all soil above the bedrock, whereas waste rock
consists of rock which is extracted from the mine, but has less than the cut-off grade for the
valuable minerals. Both the overburden and waste rock can be used in a number of indus-
trial applications (e.g. aggregate for asphalt roads, road fill, commercial sandblasting and
anti-skid surfacing of bridges).

1.3.2 Mineral Beneficiation Waste


Mineral beneficiation is a major component and is the first step after mining in the value
chain for the production of final metal products. Mineral beneficiation consists of the
manipulation of the physical properties of the ore to produce the desired particle sizes so
as to liberate and concentrate the valuable mineral from the gangue material. The process
consists of size reduction (through crushing and grinding) followed by the concentration
or enrichment step which is achieved by the separation of valuable and gangue minerals
using various techniques that are based on the physical and chemical properties of the
minerals such as gravity concentration, dense media separation, magnetic separation and
flotation. The concentration or enrichment steps result in the production of a valuable
stream with a high concentration of the target metals and the waste stream composed
mostly of gangue minerals and a small amount of the valuable metals.
In the past, the waste streams were disposed of into tailings dams. However, in recent
years there has been a trend towards the reprocessing of some of these old tailings in
order to recover valuable metals. These tailings have also been used as raw material in the
construction and building industry, such as in the production of concrete mix, bricks, tiles
and ceramics.

1.3.3 Acid Mine Drainage


AMD is considered to be one of the devastating environmental pollution problems
­associated with the mining industry (Udayabhanu and Prasad, 2010). Ideally, the AMD
may be generated from mine waste rocks or tailings or mine structures such as active or
closed or abandoned pits and underground workings. However, the causes of AMD are
not only limited to the mining industry, but can also occur where sulphide materials
are exposed, for example, in highway and tunnel construction and other deep ­excavations
(Skousen, 1995; Skousen et al., 1998; ZDun, 2001). Chapter 3 describes AMD generation
and its associated technical issues. The removal and recycling of metal contaminants and
other by-products are also covered in Chapter 3.

1.4 Ferrous Metals Waste Production and Utilization


Ferrous metals constitute one of the most ubiquitous metal commodities driving the
growth of the world economy. Basically, ferrous metals refer to metals and alloys contain-
ing iron, and the term is generically used to refer to iron and steel products. The production
of iron and steel products has been the key driver of the global economy, mainly due to
their irreplaceable utilizations in specialized applications such as in construction, mining,
transport, manufacturing and energy sectors. In addition, iron and steel products are
6 Waste Production and Utilization in the Metal Extraction Industry

inextricably linked to economic growth and prosperity and are a major driver of economic
growth for most manufacturing and resource-producing countries (World Steel Association,
2015a,b). According to World Steel Association (2015a) estimates for 2014, the steel i­ ndustry
contributed about 954 billion US$ to society directly and indirectly, including about
120 ­billion US$ in tax contributions.
The primary production of iron and steel products produced from ores is dominated by
the integrated blast furnace process, which technically accounts for about 70% of global
crude steel production. The electric furnace process, mostly utilizing steel scrap and other
metallic charges, currently contributes about 30% of the global crude steel production
(World Steel Association, 2012). The crude steel from the blast furnace and/or electric arc
melting process is further refined to remove deleterious impurities and is alloyed to pro-
duce value-added steel products such as stainless steels. Depending on the desired quality
and properties of the final products, the typical processes used in the refining of steel
p­roducts include unit processes such as basic oxygen steelmaking, argon-oxygen decarbu-
rization, vacuum and ladle refining (Fruehan, 1998). Finally, the refined steel is cast into
semi-finished products for manufacturing of end-use products.
Despite the ubiquity of ferrous metals in the development of mankind, the pyromet-
allurgical production of these metal products is associated with the production of
waste materials which are detrimental to the environment. In general, there is a strong
expectation on the part of producers to proactively adopt environmentally sustainable
business models in their operations in order to reduce the anthropogenic effects from
the production of iron and steel products (World Steel Association, 2015b). According
to the World Steel Association (2015b), the steel industry has adopted a circular econ-
omy model which promotes zero waste through the reuse and recycling of by-product
materials. In this regard, the focus is on finding new markets and applications for steel
by-products and wastes such as process slags, particulate emissions, spent refractory
materials and process gases and sludges (Atkinson and Kolarik, 2001; World Steel
Association, 2015b).
Chapter 4 provides a technical overview of the unit processes in the smelting and refin-
ing of iron and steel, and highlights the different types and categories of metallurgical
wastes produced in the respective unit processes. Furthermore, the chapter provides an
overview of the recycling and valorization opportunities and challenges of the various
metallurgical wastes from the perspective of the unit processes producing them and dis-
cusses the current practices and trends in terms of waste reduction, recycling and utiliza-
tion in the iron and steel sector.

1.5 Ferroalloys Waste Production and Utilization


Ferroalloys refer to the various master alloys of iron with a high proportion of one or more
other elements, such as chromium, manganese, nickel, molybdenum and silicon (Eric,
2014). With the exception of silicon which has unique industrial and commercial applica-
tions, such as photovoltaic and microelectronics applications, most of ferroalloys are
consumed in the production of iron and steel products (Holappa, 2010; Gasik, 2013;
Tangstad, 2013; Holappa 2013; Eric, 2014). In fact, the growth of the ferroalloys industry
has largely been driven by advances in the steel industry and the growing demand for
high-performance materials in various applications (Holappa, 2010).
Overview 7

In general, ferroalloys are mainly used as alloying agents in steelmaking in order to


obtain an appropriate chemical composition of liquid steel and impact distinct mechani-
cal and chemical properties of solidified steels (Holappa, 2010; Gasik, 2013). Furthermore,
the various grades of ferroalloys also play an important role in the metallurgical refining
and solidification of various grades of steels, and these include, inter alia, in the refining,
deoxidation and control of inclusions and precipitates (Pande et al., 2010; Gasik, 2013;
Holappa and Louhenkilpi, 2013). In fact, the advent of ferroalloy metallurgy has been
credited for the development of various ubiquitous grades of stainless and specialty steels
(Gasik, 2013).
Naturally, the mining, beneficiation and smelting of ferroalloy ores are associated
with the generation of toxic and hazardous wastes in the form of furnace slags, par-
ticulate dusts, beneficiation residues and leach residues (Richard and Bourg, 1991;
EPA, 1995; Barnhart, 1997a,b; Ma and Garbers-Craig, 2006). Traditionally, the waste
materials were disposed of in landfills, but the anthropogenic effects associated with
the disposal of such wastes in landfills, particularly the potential leachability of toxic
heavy metal species such as chromium, silicon, nickel, manganese, lead and zinc com-
pounds, have resulted in a protracted shift towards holistic management practices
incorporating the recycling and/or reuse and solidification and/or stabilization, as
alternatives to disposal in landfills (Richard and Bourg, 1991; Barnhart, 1997a,b;
Tanskanen and Makkonen, 2006; Olsen et al., 2007; Durinck et al., 2008; Kumar et al.,
2013; Tangstad, 2013).
The processes used in the production of various grades of bulk ferroalloys are reviewed
in Chapter 5. Furthermore, Chapter 5 discusses the characteristics and anthropogenic
effects of the waste streams produced in the typical bulk ferroalloy unit processes.
The potential and applicable waste mitigation, valorization and inertization techniques
and processes are also addressed. In terms of waste production and utilization, the various
considerations taken into account in Chapter 5 include the raw materials effects, equip-
ment design effects, process chemistry effects and valorization potential of the different
waste streams.

1.6 Base Metals Waste Production and Utilization


Base metals have irreplaceable industrial and commercial applications, and their con-
sumption is directly correlated with global economic growth (IMF, 2015). Basically, base
metals broadly refer to a category of non-ferrous metal commodities typically consisting of
copper, nickel, cobalt, lead, zinc and mercury (Craig and Vaughan, 1990; Jones, 1999; Cole
and Ferron, 2002; Crundwell et al., 2011; Schlesinger et al., 2011). In general, the primary
pyrometallurgical production of base metals involves the following steps (Jones, 1999;
Cole and Ferron, 2002; Crundwell et al., 2011; Schlesinger et al., 2011): (1) smelting of base
metal concentrates in flash or electric furnaces to produce base metal–rich matte, (2) matte
converting under hydrodynamic oxidizing conditions to produce base metal–enriched
matte (significantly higher than the smelter furnace matte) and (3) the refining and purifi-
cation process to produce high-purity metals.
The production of base metals is not immune to the typical environmental challenges
associated with the generic production of metals. In general, the production processes of
these metals inherently produce by-products and waste streams that can potentially cause
8 Waste Production and Utilization in the Metal Extraction Industry

significant health effects and environmental pollution (European Commission, 2014). In


terms of green economy, the base metals industry is focusing on not only in meeting the
demand of base metal products, but is also focusing on mitigating the environmental
effects of waste streams and by-products from base metals production (European
Commission, 2014).
Chapter 6 discusses the primary pyrometallurgical production processes of base metals
(nickel, copper and cobalt) and platinum group metals from sulphide ores. Furthermore, the
chapter highlights the production of waste streams, particularly process slags and particu-
late dusts, from the respective unit processes, and discusses the relevant processes and
techniques applicable in the recycling and valorization of base metals. The chapter also
discusses the platinum group metals (PGMs) since the primary production of PGMs is
closely associated with the production processes of base metals.

1.7 Hydrometallurgical Waste Production and Utilization


Hydrometallurgy has been widely used for the production of an array of metals. This
branch of extractive metallurgy is concerned with the production of metals or metallic
compounds from ores, concentrates or other intermediate materials by a sequence of oper-
ations carried out in aqueous solutions. Its popularity when compared to pyrometallurgical
extraction has been mostly related to its associated lower capital and operational costs,
lower energy consumption, and its ability to treat an extensive range of feed materials such
as complex, primary, high- and low-grade ores and secondary waste materials. It is also
been regarded as much more environmentally friendly with the ability to use dilute and
also natural inorganic and organic reagents which can be regenerated and recycled in the
process flowsheets.
The hydrometallurgical circuit is divided into different stages which include metal
extraction, solution purification and metal recovery. A generalized flow diagram illustrat-
ing many of the key hydrometallurgical processes as they occur in sequence is shown in
Figure 1.1.
Chapter 7 will look at some of the hydrometallurgical production processes for particu-
lar metals, such as copper, zinc, cobalt, nickel, aluminium, PGMs, gold and uranium. The
focus will be on the general flowsheet for the production of these metals, the waste streams
generated and the potential value and resource recovery that can be attained from each
particular stream. Some of the highlights of Chapter 7 are given in the following sections.

1.7.1 Production of Copper
The production of copper can be achieved using two approaches: (1) a full hydrometallur-
gical approach which is commonly used for both low- and high-grade oxide and second-
ary sulphide ores and (2) a pyrometallurgical route which is applied to high-grade sulphide
ores. In the hydrometallurgical route known as the leach, solvent extraction and electro-
winning (L/SX/EW) route, the feed material first undergoes leaching, followed by solvent
extraction for solution purification and a concentration upgrade, then lastly electrowin-
ning to obtain the required solid metallic copper cathodes. In the copper production by
L/SX/EW, the potential residues that are generated include crud from the solvent extrac-
tion circuit and cell sludge from the electrowinning circuit. Crud treatment is usually
Overview 9

Feed material

Metal extraction Residue for disposal or


Leaching recycle

Solution purification Effluent for disposal or


Solvent extraction
Ion exchange recycle
Precipitation

Metal recovery Effluent for disposal or


Electrowinning
Reduction
recycle

Product: Metal/alloy/
compound

FIGURE 1.1
A generalized flow diagram illustrating key hydrometallurgical processes.

undertaken in order to recover some of the organic matter and thus minimize losses which
leads to cost savings as the organic matter can be recycled into the extraction circuit.
In the pyrometallurgical process, the impure copper which is generated is purified
using electrorefining. The electrorefining process results in the production of anode
slime/sludge which constitutes significant levels of valuable metals such as PGMs. The
recovery of these valuable metals by treating the anode slime is of great importance in the
copper production industry as it significantly adds to the company’s revenues stream.
A number of processes are currently being used in industry and some of these are dis-
cussed in detail in Chapter 7.

1.7.2 Production of Zinc
The roast–leach–electrowin process has been widely used for the production of zinc from
sulphide ores. The process involves the roasting of the zinc sulphide concentrates to gener-
ate an oxide concentrate which is then leached to get a zinc pregnant leach solution and
followed by electrowinning to obtain the zinc metal. A number of variations to this basic
zinc hydrometallurgical production process flowsheet have been adopted with the key
focus being on the minimization of the amount of iron in the pregnant leach solution going
to the electrowinning circuit. It is imperative to reduce the amount of iron in the solution
that goes to the electrowinning circuit since the electrowinning efficiency of zinc from
aqueous solutions can be negatively affected by the presence of even a trace amount of
iron. Current efficiency and product purity is usually lowered. The efficient removal of iron
from the zinc leach liquors have been achieved through a number of processes, for exam-
ple the jarosite, the goethite and the hematite processes. These processes are named after
the iron product that is generated during the iron removal stage, and recovery of valuable
10 Waste Production and Utilization in the Metal Extraction Industry

metallic iron from these waste products has been significantly considered through numer-
ous research and development activities. In addition to iron recovery, the jarosite and goe-
thite produced have found ready use in a variety of industrial applications, such as the
production of construction and building material (e.g. as concrete, bricks, cement and tiles),
catalysts, pigments, gypsum and refractories, composites, glass and ceramics (Pelino, 2000;
Pappu et al., 2006a,b).

1.7.3 Production of Alumina
Alumina (or aluminium hydroxide) has been traditionally produced from bauxite
using the Bayer process. In the Bayer process, bauxite is leached in a hot solution of
sodium hydroxide; the resulting hydroxide solution is then cooled and the dissolved alu-
minium hydroxide precipitates out as a solid. The hydroxide is then calcined decomposing
the aluminium hydroxide to alumina (Al2O3) and giving off water vapour in the process.
During the leaching process some components of bauxite do not dissolve and are removed
from the solution in a thickener during the clarification stage, resulting in a mixture of
solid impurities known as red mud or bauxite residue.
The various uses of red mud include the production of iron and steel, titanium and alu-
mina and the recovery of minor metallic constituents such as rare earths (Liu and Li, 2015). It
has also been used as a raw material in the building and construction industry (e.g. bricks,
light weight aggregates, roofing and flooring tiles, cements, etc.) and in catalysis, ceramics,
tiles, glasses and glazes (Klauber et al., 2009, 2011; Samal et al., 2013; Liu and Naidu, 2014).
Other alternative uses include the treatment of industrial wastewater and as a fertilizer in
agricultural industries (Klauber et al., 2009, 2011).

1.7.4 Production of Precious Metals


The production of precious metals, such as gold and PGMs, has been well established for
a number of years. Precious metals tend to be much nobler and, as a result, require very
strong leaching reagents in order to get them into solution. Usually a complexing agent in
the presence of an oxidant is used in the dissolution process.
For the production of gold, cyanide is used as a complexing agent in the presence of
oxygen as the oxidant. The gold is then recovered from the solution using carbon adsorp-
tion technology. In order to ensure good leaching kinetics and high overall gold recovery,
it is always necessary to add more cyanide during leaching process. This excess cyanide
goes to the tailings as uncomplexed or free cyanide. However, rising costs associated with
cyanide consumption and strict environmental regulations have led to an increased inter-
est in technologies that can be used to recover and recycle some of the cyanide. Technologies
such as the sulphidization–acidification–recycle–thickening process (the Hannah p ­ rocess);
the acidification, volatilization and reneutralization process and application of mem-
branes have been used to detoxify and recover some cyanide from the solution stream
before discharge to the environment (Fleming, 2003). The advantage of these processes is
the potential recovery of saleable zinc and copper metal products and cyanide which can
be recycled to the leaching process (Fleming, 2003).
In the production of PGMs, chloride solutions are usually used as complexing agents in
the presence of an oxidant such as hydrogen peroxide. The leaching process is followed by
solvent extraction or ion exchange to purify and concentrate the solution. Unfortunately,
some traces of PGM remain in the leach solution at levels which are not economic to purify
and are thus lost to the effluent stream.
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over that scene a hundred times and a hundred to that, roused to its
importance only after it was over. What had been the meaning of it? never
to this day had she been quite able to make up her mind, nobody had talked
to her of her mother’s death. Instead of those lingerings upon the sad
details, upon the last words, upon all the circumstances which preceded that
catastrophe, which are usual in such circumstances, there had been a hush
of everything, which had driven the subject back upon her mind, and made
her dwell upon it doubly. Time had a little effaced the impression, but the
return to the Square had brought it back again in greater force, and in those
lonely hours which the girl had spent there at first, left to her own
resources, many a perplexed and perplexing fancy had crowded her mind.
The new life, however, which had set in later, the companionship, the gentle
gaieties, the new sentiment, altogether strange and wonderful, which had
arisen in her young bosom, had quietly pushed forth all painful thoughts.
But now, with the pang of parting already in her heart, and the sense, so
easily taken up at her years and so tragically felt, that life never could again
be what it had been—a certain pang of opposition to her father had come
into Cara’s mind. Going away!—to break her heart and alter her life
because he would not bear the associations of his home! was a man thus,
after having all that was good in existence himself, to deprive others of their
happiness for the sake of his recollections? but when this further revelation
fell upon his conduct, Cara’s whole heart turned and shrank from her father.
She could not bear the suggestion, and yet it returned to her in spite of
herself. The shame of it, the wrong of it, the confused and dark ideas of
suspicion and doubt which had been moving vaguely in her mind, all came
together in a painful jumble. She put away her flowers, flinging away half
of them in the tumult of her thoughts. It was too peaceful an occupation,
and left her mind too free for discussion with herself. The girl’s whole
being was roused, she scarcely knew why. Love! she had never thought of
it, she did not know what it meant, and Oswald, whom her aunt supposed to
entertain that wonderful occult sentiment for her, certainly did not do so,
but found in her only a pleasant confidante, a friendly sympathiser.
Something prevented Cara from inquiring further, from asking herself any
questions. She did not venture even to think in the recesses of her delicate
bosom, that Edward Meredith was anything more to her, or she to him, than
was Miss Cherry. What was the use of asking why or wherefore? She had
begun to be happy, happier certainly than she had been before; and here it
was to end. The new world, so full of strange, undefined lights and
reflections, was to break up like a dissolving view, and the old world to
settle down again with all its old shadows. The thought brought a few hot,
hasty tears to her eyes whenever it surprised her as it did now. Poor
inconsistent child! She forgot how dull the Square had been when she came,
how bitterly she had regretted her other home in those long dreary evenings
when there was no sound in the house except the sound of the hall-door
closing upon her father when he went out. Ah! upon her father as he went
out! He who was old, whose life was over (for fifty is old age to seventeen),
he could not tolerate the interruption of his habits, of his talk with his
friend; but she in the first flush of her beginning was to be shut out from
everything, banished from her friends without a word! And then there crept
on Cara’s mind a recollection of those evening scenes over the fire: Aunt
Cherry bending her brows over her needlework, and Edward reading in the
light of the lamp. How innocent it was; how sweet; and it was all over, and
for what? Poor little Cara’s mind seemed to turn round. That sense of
falsehood and insincerity even in the solid earth under one’s feet, which is
the most bewildering and sickening of all moral sensations, overcame her. It
was for her mother’s sake, because of the love he bore her, that he could not
be at ease in this room, which had been so specially her mother’s; all those
years while he had been wandering, it was because the loss of his wife was
fresh upon his mind, and the blow so bitter that he could not resume his old
life; but now what was this new breaking up of his life? Not for her
mother’s sake, but for Mrs. Meredith’s! Cara paused with her head
swimming, and looked round her to see if anything was steady in the
sudden whirl. What was steady? Oswald, whom everybody (she could see)
supposed to be ‘in love,’ whatever that was, with herself, was, as she knew,
‘in love,’ as he called it, with somebody else. Cara did not associate her
own sentiments for anyone with that feeling which Oswald expressed for
Agnes, but she felt that her own position was false, as his position was
false, and Mrs. Meredith’s and her father’s. Was there nothing in the world
that was true?
The next day or two was filled with somewhat dolorous arrangements
for breaking up again the scarcely-established household. Miss Cherry
occupied herself with many sighs in packing away the silver, shutting up
the linen, all the household treasures, and covering the furniture with
pinafores. Cara’s clothes were in process of packing, Cara’s room was being
dismantled. Mr. Beresford’s well-worn portmanteaux had been brought out,
and John and Cook, half pleased at the renewed leisure which began to
smile upon them, half-vexed at the cessation of their importance as
purveyors for and managers of their master’s ‘establishment,’ were looking
forward to the great final ‘cleaning up,’ which was to them the chief event
of the whole. All was commotion in the house. The intercourse with the
house next door had partially ceased; Oswald still came in the morning, and
Edward in the evening; but there had been no communication between the
ladies of the two houses since the evening when Mr. Beresford took final
leave of Mrs. Meredith. To say that there were not hard thoughts of her in
the minds of the Beresfords would be untrue, and yet it was impossible that
anyone could have been more innocent than she was. All that she had done
was to be kind, which was her habit and nature. ‘But too kind,’ Miss Cherry
said privately to herself, ‘too kind! Men must not be too much encouraged.
They should be kept in their place,’ and then the good soul cried at the
thought of being hard upon her neighbour. As for Cara, she never put her
thoughts on the subject into words, being too much wounded by the mere
suggestion. But in her mind, too, there was a sense that Mrs. Meredith must
be wrong. It could not be but that she must be wrong; and they avoided
each other by instinct. After poor James was gone, Miss Cherry promised
herself she would call formally and bid good-by to that elderly enchantress
who had made poor James once more an exile. Nothing could exceed now
her pity for ‘poor James.’ She forgot the darts with which she herself had
slain him, and all that had been said to his discredit. He was the sufferer
now, which was always enough to turn the balance of Miss Cherry’s
thoughts.
When things had arrived at this pitch, a sudden and extraordinary change
occurred all at once in Mr. Beresford’s plans. For a day no communications
whatever took place between No. 7 and No. 8 in the Square. Oswald did not
come in the morning—which was a thing that might be accounted for; but
Edward did not appear in the evening—which was more extraordinary.
Miss Cherry had brought out her art-needlework, notwithstanding the
forlorn air of semi-dismantling which the drawing-room had already
assumed, and Cara had her hemming ready. ‘It will only be for a night or
two more,’ said Miss Cherry, ‘and we may just as well be comfortable; but
she sighed; and as for Cara, the expression of her young countenance had
changed altogether to one of nervous and impatient trouble. She was pale,
her eyes had a fitful glimmer. Her aunt’s little ways fretted her as they had
never done before. Now and then a sense of the intolerable seized upon the
girl. She would not put up with the little daily contradictions to which
everybody is liable. She would burst out into words of impatience
altogether foreign to her usual character. She was fretted beyond her powers
of endurance. But at this moment she calmed down again. She acquiesced
in Miss Cherry’s little speech and herself drew the chairs into their usual
places, and got the book which Edward had been reading to them. The
ladies were very quiet, expecting their visitor; the fire sent forth little puffs
of flame and crackles of sound, the clock ticked softly, everything else was
silent. Cara fell into a muse of many fancies, more tranquil than usual, for
the idea that he would not come had not entered her mind. At least they
would be happy to-night. This thought lulled her into a kind of feverish
tranquillity, and even kept her from rousing, as Miss Cherry did, to the
sense that he had not come at his usual hour and might not be coming.
‘Edward is very late,’ Miss Cherry said at last. ‘Was there any arrangement
made, Cara, that he was not to come?’
‘Arrangement? that he was not to come!’
‘My dear,’ said good Miss Cherry, who had been very dull for the last
hour, ‘you have grown so strange in your ways. I don’t want to blame you,
Cara; but how am I to know? Oswald comes in the morning and Edward in
the evening; but how am I to know? If one has said more to you than the
other, if you think more of one than the other, you never tell me. Cara, is it
quite right, dear? I thought you would have told me that day that Oswald
came and wanted to see you alone; of course, we know what that meant; but
you evaded all my questions; you never would tell me.’
‘Aunt Cherry, it was because there was nothing to tell. I told you there
would be nothing.’
‘Then there ought to have been something, Cara. One sees what Edward
feels, poor boy, and I am very sorry for him. And it is hard upon him—hard
upon us all to be so treated. Young people ought to be honest in these
matters. Yes, dear, it is quite true. I am not pleased. I have not been pleased
ever since——’
‘Aunt Cherry,’ said the girl, her face crimson, her eyes full of tears, ‘why
do you upbraid me now—is this the moment? As if I were not unhappy
enough. What does Edward feel? Does he too expect me to tell him of
something that does not exist?’
‘Poor Edward! All I can say is, that if we are unhappy, he is unhappy
too, and unhappier than either you or me, for he is——. Poor boy; but he is
young and he will get over it,’ said Miss Cherry with a deep sigh.
‘Oh, hush! hush! but tell me of him—hush!’ said Cara, eagerly; ‘I hear
him coming up the stairs.’
There was someone certainly coming up stairs, but it was not Edward’s
youthful footstep, light and springy. It was a heavier and slower tread. They
listened, somewhat breathless, being thus stopped in an interesting
discussion, and wondered at the slow approach of these steps. At last the
door opened slowly, and Mr. Beresford, with some letters in his hand, came
into the room. He came quite up to them before he said anything. The
envelope which he held in his hand seemed to have contained both the open
letters which he carried along with it, and one of them had a black edge. He
was still running his eyes over this as he entered the room.
‘I think,’ he said, standing with his hand upon Cara’s table, at the place
where Edward usually sat, ‘that you had better stop your packing for the
moment. An unfortunate event has happened, and I do not think now that I
can go away—not so soon at least; it would be heartless, it would be
unkind!’
‘What is it?’ cried Miss Cherry, springing to her feet. ‘Oh, James, not
any bad news from the Hill?’
‘No, no; nothing that concerns us. The fact is,’ said Mr. Beresford,
gazing into the dim depths of the mirror and avoiding their eyes, ‘Mr.
Meredith, the father of the boys, has just died in India. The news has come
only to-day.’
CHAPTER XXXI.

THE HOUSE OF MOURNING.

The news which had produced so sudden and startling an effect upon the
inmates of No. 7 had been known early in the morning of the same day to
the inmates of No. 8. This it was which had prevented either of the young
men from paying their ordinary visits; but the wonder was that no rumour
should have reached at least the kitchen of Mr. Beresford’s house of the sad
news which had arrived next door. Probably the reason was that the servants
were all fully occupied, and had no time for conversation. The news had
come early, conveyed by Mr. Sommerville personally, and by post from the
official head-quarters, for Mr. Meredith was a civil servant of standing and
distinction. There was nothing extraordinary or terrible in it. He had been
seized with one of the rapid diseases of the climate, and had succumbed like
so many other men, leaving everything behind him settled and in order. It
was impossible that a well-regulated and respectable household could have
been carried on with less reference to the father of the children, and
nominal master of the house, than Mrs. Meredith’s was; but perhaps this
was one reason why his loss fell upon them all like a thunderbolt. Dead! no
one had ever thought of him as a man who could die. The event brought
him near them as with the rapidity of lightning. Vaguely in their minds, or
at least in the wife’s mind, there had been the idea of some time or other
making up to him for that long separation and estrangement—how, she did
not inquire, and when, she rather trembled to think of, but some time. The
idea of writing a kinder letter than usual to him had crossed her mind that
very morning. They did not correspond much; they had mutually found
each other incompatible, unsuitable, and lately Mrs. Meredith had been
angry with the distant husband, who had been represented as disapproving
of her. But this morning, no later, some thrill of more kindly feeling had
moved her. She had realised all at once that it might be hard for him to be
alone in the world, and without that solace of the boys, which from
indifference, or from compunction, he had permitted her to have without
interference all these years. She had thought that after all it was cruel, after
such a long time, to deny him a share in his own children, and she had
resolved, being in a serious mood and agitated state of mind, to make the
sacrifice, or to attempt to make the sacrifice more freely, and to write to him
to express her gratitude to him for leaving her both the boys so long; had
not he a right to them no less than hers?—in the eye of nature no less, and
in the eye of the law more. Yet he had been generous to her, and had never
disputed her possession of her children. These were the softening thoughts
that had filled her mind before she came downstairs. And no sooner had she
come down than the news arrived. He was dead. When those die who are
the most beloved and cherished, the best and dearest, that calamity which
rends life asunder and overclouds the world for us, has seldom in it the
same sickening vertigo of inappropriateness which makes the soul sick
when someone essentially earthly is suddenly carried away into the unseen,
with which he seems to have had nothing to do all his previous life. He!
dead! a man so material, of the lower earth. What could dying be to him?
What connection had he with the mystery and solemnity of the unseen? The
vulgar and commonplace awe us more at these dread portals than the noble
or great. What have they to do there? What had a man like Mr. Meredith to
do there? Yet he had gone, no one knowing, and accomplished that journey
which classes those who have made it, great and small, with the gods. A
hundred discordant thoughts entered into his wife’s mind—compunction,
and wonder, and solemn trembling. Could he have known what she had
been thinking that morning? Was it some dumb approach of his soul to hers
which had aroused these more tender thoughts? Had he been aware of all
that had gone on in her mind since the time when, she knowing of it, he had
died? Nature has always an instinctive certainty, whatever philosophy may
say against it, and however little religion may say in favour of it, that this
sacred and mysterious event of death somehow enlarges and expands the
being of those who have passed under its power. Since we lost them out of
our sight, it seems so necessary to believe that they see through us more
than ever they did, and know what is passing within the hearts to which
they were kindred. Why should the man, who living had concerned himself
so little about what his wife did, know now instantaneously all about it,
having died? She could not have given a reason, but she felt it to be so. The
dark ocean, thousands of miles of it, what was that to an emancipated soul?
He had died in India; but he was there, passing mysteriously through the
doors, standing by her, ‘putting things into her head,’ in this corner of
England. Which of us has not felt the same strange certainty? All at once
the house seemed full of him, even to the children, who had scarcely known
him. He was dead; passed into a world which mocks at distance, which
knows nothing of fatigue. He was as God in some mysterious way, able to
be everywhere, able to influence the living unconsciously, seeing, hearing
them—simply because he was dead, and had become to mortal vision
incapable of either seeing or hearing more.
There is nothing more usual than to rail at the dreadful and often unduly
prolonged moment between death and the final ceremonial which clears us
away from cumbering the living soil any longer; but this moment is often a
blessing to the survivors. In such a case as this ‘the bereaved family’ did not
know what to do. How were they to gain that momentary respite from the
common round? If the blinds were drawn down, and the house shut up,
according to the usual formula, that would be purely fictitious; for of course
he had been buried long ago. Edward paused with the shutter in his hand
when about to close it, struck by this reflection, and Oswald gave vent to it
plainly—‘What’s the good? he’s in his grave long ago.’ Mrs. Meredith had
retired to her room on the receipt of the news, where her maid took her her
cup of tea; and the young men sat down again, and ate their breakfast, as it
were under protest, ashamed of themselves for the good appetites they had,
and cutting off here and there a corner of their usual substantial meal, to
prove to themselves that they were not quite without feeling. What were
they to do to make the fact evident that they had just heard of their father’s
death, and to separate this day, which was to them as the day of his death,
from other days? They were very much embarrassed to know how they
were to manage this. To abstain altogether from their usual occupations was
the only thing which instinctively occurred to them. They sat down after
breakfast was over, as though it had been a doubly solemn dolorous Sunday,
on which they could not even go to church. Edward was doubtful even
about The Times, and Oswald hesitated about going to his smoking-room as
usual. A cigar seemed a levity when there was a death in the house. On the
whole, however, it was Oswald who settled the matter most easily, for he
began a copy of verses, ‘To the memory of my Father,’ which was a very
suitable way indeed of getting through the first hours, and amusing too.
The house was very still all the morning, and then there was another
subdued meal. Meals are a great thing to fall back upon when young
persons of healthful appetite, not broken down by grief, feel themselves
compelled to decorous appearance of mourning. By this time Oswald and
Edward both felt that not to eat was an absurd way of doing honour to their
dead father, and accordingly they had an excellent luncheon; though their
mother still ‘did not feel able,’ her maid reported, to come down. After this
the two young men went out together to take a walk. This, too, was a kind
of solemn Sabbatical exercise, which they had not taken in the same way
since they were boys at school together. When they met any acquaintance,
one of them would bow formally, or stretch out a hand to be shaken,
passing on, too grave for talk, while the other paused to explain the ‘bad
news’ they had received. When it was a friend of Oswald’s, Edward did
this, and when it was Edward’s friend, Oswald did it. This little innocent
solemn pantomime was so natural and instinctive that it impressed everyone
more or less, and themselves most of all. They began to feel a certain
importance in their position, enjoying the sympathy, the kind and pitying
looks of all they met as they strolled along slowly arm-in-arm. They had not
been so much united, or felt so strong a connection with each other, for
years. Then they began to discuss in subdued tones the probable issues.
‘Will it change our position?’ Edward asked.
‘I think not, unless to better it,’ said Oswald. ‘I don’t think you need go
to India now unless you like.’
He had just said this, when they were both addressed by someone
coming up behind them, as hasty and business-like as they were languid and
solemn.
‘I say, can you tell me whereabouts the India Office is?’ said the new
comer. ‘Good-morning. I shouldn’t have disturbed you but that I
remembered you were going to India too. I’m in for my last Exam., that is, I
shall be directly, and I’ve got something to do at the India Office; but the
fact is, I don’t know where to go.’
It was Edward who directed him, Oswald standing by holding his
brother’s arm. Roger Burchell was very brisk, looking better than usual in
the fresh spring sunshine, and Oswald’s eye was caught by his face, which
was like someone he had seen recently—he could not remember where—
the ruddy, mellow, warmly-toned complexion, brown eyes, and dusky gold
of the hair. Who was it? Roger, being out of his depth in London, was glad
to see faces he knew, even though he loved them little; and then he had
heard that Cara was to return to the Hill, and felt that he had triumphed, and
feared them no more.
‘I hope your neighbours are well?’ he said. ‘They are coming back, I
hear, to the country. I suppose they don’t care for London after being
brought up in a country place? I should not myself.’
‘Mr. Beresford is going abroad,’ said Edward, coldly.
‘Everybody is going abroad, I think; but few people so far as we are. I
don’t think I should care for the Continent—just the same old thing over
and over; but India should be all fresh. You are going to India too, ain’t
you? at least, that is what I heard.’
‘I am not sure,’ said Edward. ‘The truth is, we have had very bad news
this morning. My father died at Calcutta——’
‘Oh, I beg your pardon,’ said Roger, who had kind feelings. ‘I should not
have stopped you had I known; I thought you both looked grave. I am very
sorry. I hope you don’t mind——?’
‘Don’t mind my father’s death?’
‘Oh, I mean don’t mind my having stopped you. Perhaps it was rude; but
I said to myself, “Here is someone I know.” Don’t let me detain you now. I
am very sorry, but I wish you were coming to India,’ said Roger, putting out
his big fist to shake hands. Oswald eluded the grip, but Edward took it
cordially. He was not jealous of Roger, but divined in him an unfortunate
love like his own.
‘Poor fellow!’ Edward said as they went on.
‘Poor fellow!—why poor fellow? he is very well off. He is the very sort
of man to get on; he has no feelings, no sensitiveness, to keep him back.’
‘It is scarcely fair to decide on such slight acquaintance that he has no
feelings; but he is going to India.’
‘Ned, you are a little bit of a fool, though you’re a clever fellow. Going
to India is the very best thing a man can do. My mother has always made a
fuss about it.’
‘And yourself——’
‘Myself! I am not the sort of fellow. I am no good. I get dead beat; but
you that are all muscle and sinew, and that have no tie except my mother
——’
‘That to be sure,’ said Edward with a sigh, and he wondered did his
brother now at last mean to be confidential and inform him of the
engagement with Cara? His heart began to beat more quickly. How different
that real sentiment was from the fictitious one which they had both been
playing with! Edward’s breath came quickly. Yes, it would be better to
know it—to get it over; and then there would be no further uncertainty; but
at the same time he was afraid—afraid both of the fact and of Oswald’s way
of telling it. If Cara’s name was spoken with levity, how should he be able
to bear it? Needless to say, however, that Oswald had no intention of talking
about Cara, and nothing to disclose on that subject at least.
‘You that have no tie—except my mother,’ repeated Oswald, ‘(and of
course she would always have me), I would think twice before I gave up
India. It’s an excellent career, nothing better. The governor (poor old
fellow) did very well, I have always heard, and you would do just as well,
or more so, with the benefit of his connection. I wonder rather that my
mother kept us out of the Indian set, except the old Spy. Poor old man, I
daresay he will be cut up about this. He’ll know better than anyone,’
continued Oswald, with a change of tone, ‘what arrangements have been
made.’
‘I wonder if it will be long before we can hear?’ Thus they went on
talking in subdued tones, the impression gradually wearing off, and even
the feeling of solemn importance—the sense that, though not unhappy, they
ought to conduct themselves with a certain gravity of demeanour becoming
sons whose father was just dead. They had no very distinct impression
about the difference to be made in their own future, and even Oswald was
not mercenary in the ordinary sense of the word. He thought it would be but
proper and right that he should be made ‘an eldest son;’ but he did not think
it likely—and in that case, though he would be absolutely independent, he
probably would not be very rich—not rich enough to make work on his own
part unnecessary. So the excitement on this point was mild. They could not
be worse off than they were—that one thing he was sure of, and for the rest,
one is never sure of anything. By this time they had reached the region of
Clubs. Oswald thought there was nothing out of character in just going in
for half an hour to see the papers. A man must see the papers whoever lived
or died. When the elder brother unbent thus far, the younger brother went
home. He found his mother still in her own room taking a cup of tea. She
had been crying, for her eyes were red, and she had a shawl wrapped round
her, the chill of sudden agitation and distress having seized upon her. Mr.
Meredith’s picture, which had not hitherto occupied that place of honour,
had been placed above her mantelpiece, and an old Indian box, sweet with
the pungent odour of the sandal-wood, stood on the little table at her elbow.
‘I was looking over some little things your dear papa gave me, long before
you were born,’ she said, with tears in her voice. ‘Oh, my poor John!’
‘Mother, you must not think me unfeeling; but I knew so little of him.’
‘Yes, that was true—yes, that was true. Oh, Edward, I have been asking
myself was it my fault? But I could not live in India, and he was so fond of
it. He was always well. He did not understand how anyone could be half
killed by the climate. I never should have come home but for the doctors,
Edward.’
She looked at him so appealingly that Edward felt it necessary to take all
the responsibility unhesitatingly upon himself. ‘I am sure you did not leave
him as long as you could help it, mother.’
‘No, I did not—that is just the truth—as long as I could help it; but it
does seem strange that we should have been parted for so much of our lives.
Oh, what a comfort it is, Edward, to feel that whatever misunderstanding
there might be, he knows all and understands everything now!’
‘With larger, other eyes than ours,’ said Edward piously, and the boy
believed it in the confidence of his youth. But how the narrow-minded
commonplace man who had been that distinguished civil servant, John
Meredith, should all at once have come to this godlike greatness by the
mere fact of dying, neither of them could have told. Was it nature in them
that asserted it to be so? or some prejudice of education and tradition so
deeply woven into their minds that they did not know it to be anything but
nature? But be it instinct or be it prejudice, what more touching sentiment
ever moved a human bosom? He had not been a man beloved in his life; but
he was as the gods now.
By-and-by, however—for reverential and tender as this sentiment was, it
was neither love nor grief, and could not pretend to the dominion of these
monarchs of the soul—the mother and son fell into talk about secondary
matters. She had sent for her dressmaker about her mourning, and given
orders for as much crape as could be piled upon one not gigantic female
figure, and asked anxiously if the boys had done their part—had got the
proper depth of hatbands, the black studs, &c., that were wanted. ‘I suppose
you may have very dark grey for the mourning; but it must be very dark,’
she said.
‘And you, mother, must you wear that cap—that mountain of white
stuff?’
‘Certainly, my dear,’ said Mrs. Meredith with fervour. ‘You don’t think I
would omit any sign of respect? And what do I care whether it is becoming
or not? Oh, Edward, your dear papa has a right to all that we can do to show
respect.’
There was a faltering in her lip as of something more she had to say, but
decorum restrained her. That first day nothing ought to be thought of,
nothing should be mentioned, she felt, in which consolation had a part. But
when the night came after that long, long day, which they all felt to be like a
year, the secret comfort in her heart came forth as she bade her boy good-
night. ‘Edward, oh, I wish you had gone years ago, when you might have
been a comfort to him! but now that there is no need——’ Here she stopped
and kissed him, and looked at him with a smile in her wet eyes, which, out
of ‘respect,’ she would no more have suffered to come to her lips than she
would have worn pink ribbons in her cap, and said quickly, ‘You need not
go to India now.’
This was the blessing with which she sent him away from her. She cried
over it afterwards, in penitence looking at her husband’s portrait, which had
been brought out of a corner in the library downstairs. Poor soul, it was
with a pang of remorse that she felt she was going to be happy in her
widow’s mourning. If she could have restrained herself, she would have
kept in these words expressive of a latent joy which came by means of
sorrow. She stood and looked at the picture with a kind of prayer for pardon
in her heart—Oh, forgive me! with once more that strange confidence that
death had given the attributes of God to the man who was dead. If he was
near, as she felt him to be, and could hear the breathing of that prayer in her
heart, then surely, as Edward said, it was with ‘larger, other eyes’ that he
must look upon her, understanding many things which up to his last day he
had not been able to understand.
But they were all very glad when the day was over—that first day which
was not connected with the melancholy business or presence of death which
‘the family’ are supposed to suffer from so deeply, yet which proves a kind
of chapel and seclusion for any grief which is not of the deepest and most
overwhelming kind. The Merediths would have been glad even of a mock
funeral, a public assuming of the trappings of woe, a distinct period after
which life might be taken up again. But there was nothing at all to interrupt
their life, and the whole affair remained unauthentic and strange to them.
Meanwhile, in the house next door these strange tidings had made a sudden
tumult. The packings had been stopped. The servants were angry at their
wasted trouble; the ladies both silenced and startled, with thoughts in their
minds less natural and peaceful than the sympathy for Mrs. Meredith, which
was the only feeling they professed. As for Mr. Beresford himself, it would
be difficult to describe his feelings, which were of a very strange and
jumbled character. He was glad to have the bondage taken off his own
movements, and to feel that he was free to go where he pleased, to visit as
he liked; and the cause of his freedom was not really one which moved him
to sorrow though it involved many curious and uncomfortable questions.
How much better the unconscious ease of his feelings had been before
anyone had meddled! but now so many questions were raised! Yet his mind
was relieved of that necessity of immediate action which is always so
disagreeable to a weak man. Yes, his mind was entirely relieved. He took a
walk about his room, feeling that by-and-by it would be his duty to go back
again to Mrs. Meredith’s drawing-room to ask what he could do for her, and
give her his sympathy. Not to-night, but soon; perhaps even to-morrow. The
cruel pressure of force which had been put upon him, and which he had
been about to obey by the sacrifice of all his comforts, relaxed and melted
away. It was a relief, an undeniable relief; but yet it was not all plain-sailing
—the very relief was an embarrassment too.
CHAPTER XXXII.

TAKING UP DROPT STITCHES.

Next day Mr. Beresford paid Mrs. Meredith a visit of condolence. It was
natural and necessary, considering their friendship; but the manner in which
that friendship had been interrupted, and the occasion upon which it was
resumed, were both embarrassing. It had been a short note from Maxwell
which had communicated the news to him, and in this it had been taken for
granted that he would now remain at home. Old Mr. Sommerville had
himself communicated the information to Maxwell, and his letter was
enclosed. ‘I hear your friend Beresford had made up his mind to go away,
out of consideration for Mrs. Meredith,’ he had written, ‘which was very
gentlemanly on his part, and showed fine feeling. I think it right
accordingly to let you know at once of the great change which has taken
place in her position. I have received the news this morning of her husband
and my poor friend John Meredith’s death at Calcutta on the 3rd inst. It was
sudden, but not quite unexpected, as he had been suffering from fever. This
of course changes Mrs. Meredith’s situation altogether. She is now a widow,
and of course responsible to no one. I would not for the world be
answerable for depriving her of the sympathy of a kind friend, which may in
the long run be so important for her, at a period of trouble. So I trust you
will communicate the news to your friend with the least possible delay. I
have not seen Mrs. Meredith; but as they have been long separated, I do not
doubt that she bears the loss with Christian composure,’ said the sharp-
witted old man. ‘I send you old Sommerville’s letter,’ Mr. Maxwell added
on his own account; ‘it does not require any comment of mine; and of
course you will act as you think proper; but my own opinion is, that he is an
old busybody, making suggestions of patent absurdity.’ Mr. Beresford was
much nettled by this note. Whatever Sommerville’s suggestion might mean
it was for him to judge of it, not Maxwell, who thrust himself so calmly into
other people’s business. Sommerville’s letter might not have pleased him by
itself, but Maxwell’s gloss was unpardonable. He tore it up and threw it into
his waste-basket with unnecessary energy. But for that perhaps he might
have felt more abashed by the embarrassing character of the reunion; but
being thus schooled, he rebelled. He went to the house next door in the
afternoon, towards the darkening. The spring sunshine had died away, and
the evening was cold as winter almost. There had been no reception that
day—visitor after visitor had been sent away with the news of the
‘bereavement.’ The same word has to be used whether the loss is one which
crushes all delight out of life, or one which solemnly disturbs the current for
a moment, to leave it only brighter than before. All the servants at Mrs.
Meredith’s were preternaturally solemn. The aspect of the house could not
have been more funereal had half the population succumbed. Already, by
some wonderful effort of millinery, the maids as well as their mistress had
got their black gowns.
Mrs. Meredith herself sat in the drawing-room, crape from head to foot,
in all the crispness of a fresh widow’s cap. Never was black so black, or
white so white. She had an innocent satisfaction in heaping up this kind of
agony. Already a design drawn by Oswald was in the hands of the
goldsmith for a locket to hold her husband’s hair. She would not bate a jot
of anything that the most bereaved mourner could do to show her ‘respect.’
Even the tears were ready, and they were sincere tears. A pang of
compunction, a pang of regret, of remorseful pity and tenderness, melted
her heart, and there was a certain pleasure of melancholy in all this which
made it spontaneous. It was the very luxury of sentiment, to be able to feel
your heart untouched underneath, and yet to be so deeply, unfeignedly
sorry, to be so true a mourner at so little real cost. Mrs. Meredith held out
her hand to her visitor as he came in—he was the only one whom she had
received.
‘This is kind,’ she said—‘very kind. As you were always such a good
friend to us, I could not say no to you.’
‘I was very sorry,’ he said; as indeed what else was there to say?
‘Oh, yes, I knew you would feel for us. It was so sudden—quite well
when the last mail came in, and this one to bring such news! You scarcely
knew him; and, oh, I feel it so much now, that none of my friends, that not
even the boys knew him as they ought to have known him. It seems as if it
must have been my fault.’
‘That it could never have been. You must not reproach yourself; though
one always does, however the loss happens,’ he said, in a low and sorrowful
tone. He was thinking of his wife, for whom he had mourned with the
intensity of despair, but the same words answered both cases. He stood as
he had done the last time he was there, not looking at her in her panoply of
mourning, but looking dreamily into the fire. And she cried a little, with a
childish sob in her throat. The grief was perfectly real, childlike, and
innocent. He was much more affected by the recollection of that last
meeting at which he had taken leave of her than she was—he remembered it
better. The new incident even kept her from seeing anything more than the
most ordinary every-day fact, one friend coming to see another, in his
return.
‘I suppose you have no details?’
‘Not one. We cannot hear till the next mail. It will be some comfort to
have particulars. Poor John! he was always so strong, one never had any
fear. I was the one that could not stand the climate; and yet I am left and he
is taken!’
‘But you have not been exposed to the climate,’ said Mr. Beresford. She
was not wise in these expressions of her personal grief, though her friends
always thought her so wise in her sympathy. She resumed softly:
‘I have no fears about the boys to embitter my grief. I know they will be
well cared for. He was so good a father, though he had them so little with
him. Oh, why did you not tell me to send him one of the boys?’
Mr. Beresford would have felt himself the cruellest of malignants, had he
ventured to make such a suggestion in former days, but he did not say this
now. ‘You did what you thought was best for them,’ he said.
‘Ah, yes,’ she said eagerly, ‘for them; there was their education to be
thought of. That was what I considered; but I do not think—do you think,’
she added, with an unconscious clasping of her hands and entreating look,
‘that, since the great occasion for it is over—Edward need go to India
now?’
The form of the speech was that of an assertion—the tone that of a
question. She might follow her own inclinations like other people; but she
liked to have them sanctioned and approved by her friends.
‘Surely not, if you don’t wish it. There is only your wish to be
considered.’
‘It is not myself I am thinking of. It is for him,’ she said, faltering. Of all
things that could happen to her, she was least willing to allow that her own
will or wish had any share in her decisions. It was a weakness which
perhaps the more enlightened of her friends were already aware of. As for
Mr. Beresford, he was more critical of her than ever he had been before,
although more entirely sympathetic, more ready to throw himself into her
service. She looked at him so anxiously. She wanted his opinion and the
support of his concurrence. There was nothing for him to do, to be of use as
he proposed, but to agree with her, to support what she had thought of—that
was friendship indeed.
On the next day Miss Cherry paid a similar visit of condolence, but she
was not so tenderly sympathetic as, under other circumstances, she would
naturally have been. She looked at the new-made widow with a critical eye.
A short time before no one had been more anxious than Miss Cherry that
Mrs. Meredith should suffer no harm, should lose no title of respect due to
her. She had with her own soft hand struck a blow, the severity of which
astonished herself, at her favourite and only brother on Mrs. Meredith’s
account; but the sudden revolution in their neighbour’s affairs, instead of
touching her heart, closed it. The position was changed, and a hundred
tremors and terrors took at once possession of her gentle bosom. Who could
doubt what James would wish now—what James would do? and who could
doubt that the woman who had permitted him so intimate a friendship
would respond to these wishes? This idea leaped at once into the minds of
all the lookers-on. Old Sommerville sent the news with a chuckle of grim
cynicism yet kindness; Maxwell communicated it with a grudge; and Miss
Cherry received it with an instant conviction yet defiance. They had no
doubt of what would, nay, must ensue, and jumped at the conclusion with
unanimous agreement; and it would be quite true to say that Mr. Meredith’s
death brought quite as great a pang to Miss Cherry, who had never seen
him, as it did to his wife, though in a different way. If the first marriage, the
natural youthful beginning of serious life, brings often with it a train of
attendant embarrassments, almost miseries, what is a second marriage to
do? Good Miss Cherry’s maidenly mind was shocked by the idea that her
brother, so long held up somewhat proudly by the family as an example of
conjugal fidelity and true sorrow, had allowed feelings less exalted to get
possession of him. And what would Cara do? How would her imaginative
delicate being, too finely touched for common issues, conform to the vulgar
idea of a stepmother? Miss Cherry grew hot and angry as she thought of it.
And a man who had such a child, a grown-up daughter, sweetest and only
fit substitute for the mother dead, what did he want with a new companion,
a new love? Faugh! to use such a word disgusted her; and that James—
James! the most heart-broken and inconsolable of mourners, should come
to that! With all this in her mind, it may be supposed that Miss Cherry’s
feelings when she went to see Mrs. Meredith and found her in all her crape,
crying softly by the fire, were not so sweet as they ought to have been. She
said the usual things in the way of consolation—how, as it was to be,
perhaps it was best that they had heard of it all at once, and had not been
kept in anxiety; and how she supposed such afflictions were necessary for
us, though it was very sad that the dear boys had known so little of their
father; but, on the other hand, how that fact must soften it to them all, for of
course it was not as if he had died at home, where they would have felt the
loss every day. This last speech had a sting in it, which was little
intentional, and yet gave Miss Cherry a sense of remorse after it was said;
for though she had a certain desire to give pain, momentary, and the result
of much provocation, yet the moment the pain was given, it was herself
who suffered most. This is what it is to have a soft nature; most people have
at least a temporary satisfaction in the result when they have been able to
inflict a wound.
‘Oh, yes, my dear, she feels it, I suppose,’ Miss Cherry said, when she
returned. ‘She was sitting over the fire, and the room much too warm for
the season; for it is really like spring to-day. Of course a woman must feel it
more or less when she has lost her husband. I have never been in these
circumstances, but I don’t see how one could help that—however little one
cared for the man.’
‘Did she care little for the man?’ Cara was at the age when most things
are taken for granted. She had not entered into any peculiarities in the
position of Mrs. Meredith with her husband. She was like Hamlet,
recognising more and more, as she realised her own position, the quagmires
and unsafe footing round her—was this another? There was a sinking
sensation in Cara’s youthful mind, and a doubt and faltering wherever she
thought to place her foot.
‘My dear child,’ said Miss Cherry, ‘when a woman spends years after
years away from her husband, never making any effort to join him, quite
satisfied with a letter now and then, receiving her own friends, making a
circle, going into society—while the poor man is toiling to keep it up,
thousands and thousands of miles away’—here Miss Cherry paused, a little
frightened by the blackness of the picture which she had herself drawn. ‘I
hope I am not doing anyone injustice,’ she faltered. ‘Oh, my dear, you may
be sure I don’t mean that. And I believe poor Mrs. Meredith could not stand
the climate, and of course there was the boys’ education to think of—
children always must come home. Indeed, how anyone can settle in India
knowing that their children must be sent away——’
‘Aunt Cherry, no one is to be trusted,’ said the girl, tears coming to her
eyes; ‘there is no truth anywhere. We are all making a pretence one way or
another; pretending to care for people who are living, pretending to mourn
for people who are dead; pretending that one thing is our object, while we
are trying for another; pretending to be merry, pretending to be sad. Ah! it
makes my heart sick!’
‘Cara, Cara! What do you know about such things? They say it is so in
the world, but you and I have very little to do with the world, dear. You
must not think—indeed, indeed, you must not think that it is so with us.’
‘I don’t know anything of the world,’ said Cara. ‘I only know what is
round me. If Mrs. Meredith is false, and papa false, and other people——’
‘My dear,’ said Miss Cherry, trembling a little, ‘it is always dangerous to
apply abstract principles so. When I say that Mrs. Meredith was a long time
away from her husband, I do not say that she is false. Oh, Cara, no! that
would be terrible. If I say anything, all I mean is that she could not be so
grieved, not so dreadfully grieved, as a woman would be whose husband
had been always with her. Think of the boys, for instance; they did not
know him really; they may be very sorry; but, how different would it be if it
was a father like your father! And other people—what do you mean by
other people?’
‘Nothing,’ said Cara, turning away, for she could not reply to Miss
Cherry’s argument. Would she indeed, in her own person, grieve for her
father more than the Merediths did for theirs? Here was another mystery
unpenetrated by Miss Cherry, incomprehensible to herself. Nobody knew
the gulf that lay between her and him, and she could not tell herself what it
meant. How kind he had been to her, though she repaid him in this way; but
did he love—really love—his child any more than she loved him? Did
anybody love any other, or only pretend and go through the semblance of
loving? She did not doubt her aunts, it is true; but then her certainty in
respect to them took, to some degree, the form of indifference. Taken for

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