Oxygen isotope evidence for sorption of molecular oxygen to pyrite surface sites and incorporation into sulfate in oxidation experiments

Experiments were conducted to investigate (i) the rate of O-isotope exchange between SO4 and water molecules at low pH and surface temperatures typical for conditions of acid mine drainage (AMD) and (ii) the O- and S-isotope composition of sulfates produced by pyrite oxidation under closed and open conditions (limited and free access of atmospheric O2) to identify the O source/s in sulfide oxidation (water or atmospheric molecular O2) and to better understand the pyrite oxidation pathway. An O-isotope exchange between SO4 and water was observed over a pH range of 0–2 only at 50 °C, whereas no exchange occurred at lower temperatures over a period of 8 a. The calculated half-time of the exchange rate for 50 °C (pH = 0 and 1) is in good agreement with former experimental data for higher and lower temperatures and excludes the possibility of isotope exchange for typical AMD conditions (T less-than-or-equals, slant 25 °C, pH greater-or-equal, slanted 3) for decades. Pyrite oxidation experiments revealed two dependencies of the O-isotope composition of dissolved sulfates: O-isotope values decreased with longer duration of experiments and increasing grain size of pyrite. Both changes are interpreted as evidence for chemisorption of molecular O2 to pyrite surface sites. The sorption of molecular O2 is important at initial oxidation stages and more abundant in finer grained pyrite fractions and leads to its incorporation in the produced SO4. The calculated bulk contribution of atmospheric O2 in the dissolved SO4 reached up to 50% during initial oxidation stages (first 5 days, pH 2, fine-grained pyrite fraction) and decreased to less than 20% after about 100 days. Based on the direct incorporation of molecular O2 in the early-formed sulfates, chemisorption and electron transfer of molecular O2 on S sites of the pyrite surface are proposed, in addition to chemisorption on Fe sites. After about 10 days, the O of all newly-formed sulfates originates only from water, indicating direct interaction of hydroxyls from water with S at the anodic S pyrite surface site. Then, the role of molecular O2 is as proposed in previous studies: acting as electron acceptor only at the cathodic Fe pyrite surface site for oxidation of Fe(II) to Fe(III).