Exploiting the rheology of mine tailings for dry disposal

Abstract

Disposal of highly concentrated mineral tailings requires a thorough understanding of the effects of dewatering on the flow characteristics of the tailings. For thickened tailings disposal, dry stacking and paste fill, the rheology must be manipulated and exploited to ensure maximum efficiency of the entire disposal operation. The paper presents examples involving the dewatering and disposal of bauxite residue (red mud), nickel tailings and coal tailings and outlines alternative and simplified methods of rheological characterisation. The effect of both shear and compression history is examined in order to identify the most favourable processing schemes, in addition to the effect of other fac..