Agromineral Potential of Tailing Rocks from Ipueira Chromite Mine Bahia

Ipueira Mine started its activities in 1973 and has been exploring chrome ores for more than 40 years in the Municipality of Andorinha, inland of the State of Bahia. This operation generates a large volume of rocks that are discarded and can be used as agricultural inputs, considering that silicate rocks with potential for remineralization and soil conditioning were included in the fertilizer law, and started to have speciic regulations. This study aimed to characterize the petrology and chemistry of the discarding rocks of the Ipueira Mine in order to verify its agromineral potential. Chemical analyses identiied the presence of macro and micronutrients; petrographic and X-Ray difractometry conirmed the presence of minerals with the capacity to provide these nutrients, and the electron microscopy allowed to characterize the accessory mineralogy. The use of available rocks in discard piles of the mineral extractive industry adds sustainability and contributes to diminish the environmental impact. Despite the restrictions in the agricultural use of rocks rich in Cr-Ni, this research demonstrates that the potential of the rock tailings of the Ipueira chromium mine as acid correction agent and re-mineralizing of soils, which are source of the macronutrients Ca, Mg, K and micronutrients Fe, Mn, Si, B and Co, is promising. This possible reuse would bring a nobler destination to mining disposal materials, contributing to sustainable development in the region.