Environmental rheology for waste minimisation in the minerals industry

Abstract

Dry disposal represents a paradigm shift in mining engineering. The tailings are engineered to suit the disposal requirements, as opposed to engineering a facility to accommodate the tailings. It is, therefore, important to understand how the material properties and operational parameters can be modified to produce the desired transport and deposition characteristics of the tailings. For thickened tailings disposal, dry stacking and paste fill, the rheology must be well understood to ensure maximum efficiency of the entire disposal operation. The paper presents the disposal of bauxite residue (red mud) as a case study and outlines alternative and simplified methods of rheological characteris..