Skip to main content

Laboratory Studies to Examine the Effects of Adding Cement to Various Layers of a Surface Paste Tailings Storage

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Book cover Proceedings of the 18th Symposium on Environmental Issues and Waste Management in Energy and Mineral Production (SWEMP 2018)

Abstract

Various difficulties can be encountered in mining activities. One of the most important of these is environmental issues associated with tailings storage. In this context, laboratory-scale research has been carried out to study the effects of adding cement to various layers of a surface paste tailings storage. Different storage designs have been developed to evaluate the SPD method, and variations of paste material have been measured for volumetric water content, oxygen consumption and matric suction. Especially when the middle layers are examined, it has been determined that the volumetric water content is lower than 50% in the reference design; however, it is well above the saturation limit in other designs with cemented layers. In addition, matric suction in the cemented layers reached ~ 86–87 kPa in about a week, whereas a maximum of only ~18 kPa was achieved in the reference layers. The results indicate that the cemented layers act as barriers which may reduce the potential for the development of acid mine drainage.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aswathanarayana, U.: Mineral resources management and the environment. In: Control Technologies for Minimizing the Mining Environmental Impact. Taylor & Francis (2003) (Chapter 8)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bascetin, A., Tuylu, S.: Application of Pb–Zn tailings for surface paste disposal: geotechnical and geochemical observations. Int. J. Min. Reclam. Environ. (2017). Article in Press. https://doi.org/10.1080/17480930.2017.1282411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bascetin, A., Tuylu, S., Adiguzel, D., Ozdemir, O.: Field properties and performance of surface paste disposal. In: Yilmaz, E., Fall, M. (eds.) Paste Tailings Management. Springer, Cham (2017a)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bascetin, A., Tuylu, S., Ozdemir, O., Adiguzel, D., Benzaazoua M.: An investigation of crack formation in surface paste disposal method for pyritic Pb–Zn tailings. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. (2017b) https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1380-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benzaazoua, M., Perez, P., Belem, T., Fall, M.: A laboratory study of the behaviour of surface paste disposal. In: Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Mining with Backfill, Beijing, China (2004), 180–192

    Google Scholar 

  • British Standards Institution: EN 197-1: cement—part 1: Composition, specification and conformity criteria for common cements. European Standard (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, R.: Pipeline design for paste and thickened tailings systems. In: Tailings and Mine Waste, pp. 95–100 (2008)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Deschamps, T., Benzaazoua, M., Bussière, B., Belem, T., Aubertin, M.: The effect of disposal configuration on the environmental behaviour of paste tailings. In: MINEFILL2007 in Montreal, Quebec, p. 2491 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  • Deschamps, T., Benzaazoua, M., Bussière, B., Aubertin, M., Belem, T.: Microstructural and geochemical evolution of paste tailings in surface disposal conditions. Miner. Eng. 21, 341–353 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deschamps, T., Benzaazoua, M., Bussière, B., Aubertin, M.: Laboratory study of surface paste disposal for sulfidic tailings: physical model testing. Miner. Eng. 24, 794–806 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fourie, A.B.: In search of the sustainable tailings dam: do high-density thickened tailings provide the solution. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. University of the Witwaterstrand, South Africa, p. 12 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  • ICOLD and UNEP: Bulletin 121: tailings dams—risk of dangerous occurrences. In: Lessons Learnt from Practical Experiences, p. 144. Paris (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  • McGregor, R.G., Blowes, D.W.: The physical, chemical and mineralogical properties of three cemented layers within sulfide-bearing mine tailings. J. Geochem. Explor. 76, 195–207 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tuylu, S.: Determination of optimum design parameters for storage in surface of mine process tailings. Ph.D. thesis. Turkey (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  • Verburg, R.B.: Paste technology for disposal of acid-generating tailings. Min. Environ. Manage. 84 (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  • Verburg, R.B.: Use of paste technology for tailings disposal: potential environmental benefits and requirements for geochemical characterization. In: IMWA Symposium. Belo Horizonte, Brazil (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  • Theriault, J., Frostiak, J., Welch, D.: Surface disposal of paste tailings at the Bulyanhulu gold mine. In: Proceedings of the 2nd Mining Environment Conference. Sudbury, Ontario, pp. 1–8

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Bascetin .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Tuylu, S., Bascetin, A., Adiguzel, D. (2019). Laboratory Studies to Examine the Effects of Adding Cement to Various Layers of a Surface Paste Tailings Storage. In: Widzyk-Capehart, E., Hekmat, A., Singhal, R. (eds) Proceedings of the 18th Symposium on Environmental Issues and Waste Management in Energy and Mineral Production. SWEMP 2018. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99903-6_15

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics