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Stabilization of iron ore tailings with cement and bentonite: a case study on Golgohar mine

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Abstract

The abundance of mining activities continuously increases mine wastes/tailings that require storage/disposal. It is well understood that the accumulation of tailings around mines, and consequently, their spreading in the environment could cause serious ecological hazards. Reuse and recycling of mine tailing materials, in construction and earthwork applications (such as non-structural building elements, roads), offset possible environmental pollutions and safeguard natural resources. This study investigates experimentally the cement/bentonite stabilization of iron ore tailings from the Golgohar iron ore mine, which is the largest producer of raw (un-smelted) iron products in Iran. A comprehensive series of compaction and uniaxial compression tests was performed on mixtures of cement/bentonite and tailings. Test results reveal that the introduction of cement/bentonite to iron ore tailings requires higher water content for optimum compaction and results in lower dry density. The addition of bentonite increases the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) very little, whereas there is a great strength enhancement for tailing-cement mixtures, particularly after a period of moist curing. The cement-stabilized iron ore tailings may be incorporated in road constructions as they easily fulfill strength requirements of base and subbase course layers, while the bentonite-treated tailings are applicable as cover materials in layered disposal of tailings.

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Abbreviations

G s :

Specific gravity or density of solid particles

ε a :

Axial strain (%)

UCS :

Unconfined compressive strength (kPa, MPa)

σ a :

Axial stress (kPa)

R c :

Relative compaction (%)

ρd, ρdmax :

Dry density, maximum dry density (gr/cm3)

V v :

Volume of voids (water + air) in tailing-cement mixture

V C :

Volume of cement in tailing-cement mixture

w opt :

Optimum moisture content (%)

α, β, χ :

Fitting parameters (Eq. (2))

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Acknowledgments

Experiments were conducted in the Soil Mechanics Laboratory at the Department of Earth Sciences, Shiraz University. The second author would like to acknowledge Shiraz University of Technology. Thanks are due to Golgohar Mining and Industrial Company for providing the tailing materials. Also, the kind efforts of Dr. Saeid Maknooni (of Golgohar Mining and Industrial Company) are appreciated. The constructive comments and suggestions by the editorial board member and anonymous reviewers are greatly appreciated.

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Data is available upon request by emailing the corresponding author.

Funding

The third and fourth authors would like to thank Shiraz University for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, 7136713565, Iran

    Sattar Barati, Nozar Samani & Sina Asadi

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Shiraz University of Technology, Shiraz, 7155713876, Iran

    Piltan Tabatabaie Shourijeh

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  1. Sattar Barati
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Correspondence to Piltan Tabatabaie Shourijeh.

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Barati, S., Tabatabaie Shourijeh, P., Samani, N. et al. Stabilization of iron ore tailings with cement and bentonite: a case study on Golgohar mine. Bull Eng Geol Environ 79, 4151–4166 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-020-01843-6

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