Electrokinetics enhanced thickening of mine tailings

本研究的目的是评估电动过程的可行性，由工业赞助商提供的细尾矿脱水技术的商业化准备。创新脱水技术的开发将有利于行业合作伙伴在加拿大的发展和增长，更重要的是，最终有利于加拿大采矿业应对其在矿山废物管理方面的全球挑战。PI和工业赞助商都认为，通过适当的工程设计，EK技术有可能在稀释尾矿的脱水和浓缩尾矿的进一步脱水中发挥重要作用。 Kovit工程有限公司将提供尾矿样品、从采矿场及其实验室获得的数据进行分析。 在项目期间，定期安排会议讨论进展情况。 PI将与Kovit Engineering Limited就项目的发现进行沟通，并为下一步开发提出建议。 该项目的成果将在国际会议上发表，并发表在同行评审的工程期刊上。加拿大矿业公司因其负责任的采矿做法而受到行业领导者的尊重。拟议项目的成功将导致开发一种新的尾矿管理技术，从而提高尾矿的地质技术和地球化学稳定性，减少拦水坝的规模和成本，减少送往蓄水池的水量，这将使尾矿储存更安全，并增加水的回收和再循环。 此外，实现更大的脱水将提供额外的环境优势，例如减少淡水消耗，减少接触水和减少有毒沥滤液的产生。

The objective of this research is to assess the viability of electrokinetic process for dewatering of fine mine tailings provided by the industrial sponsors for preparation of commercialization of the technology. The development of the innovative dewatering technology will benefit the industry partner to develop and grow in Canada, and more importantly, ultimately benefits the Canadian mining industry in meeting their global challenges in mine waste management. Both the PI and industrial sponsor believe that with proper engineering design, EK technology has potential to play a significant role in dewatering of dilute tailings and further dewatering of thickened tailings. Kovit Engineering Limited will supply tailings sample, data obtained from the mining sites and their lab for analysis. Meetings are scheduled on a regular basis over the project period to discuss the progress. The PI will communicate with Kovit Engineering Limited on findings from the project and make recommendations for the next step development. The results of the project will be presented at international conferences and published in peer reviewed engineering journals. Canadian mining companies receive respect as industry leaders for their responsible mining practices. The success of the proposed project will lead to the development of a new technology for the management of mine tailings, leading to increased geotechnical and geochemical stability of mine tailings, reducing the size and cost of containment dams, and the volume of water sent to the impoundment, which would make the tailings storage safer and increase water recovery and recycle. Furthermore, achieving greater dewatering would offer additional environmental advantages such as reduced fresh water consumption, reduced contact water and reduced toxic leachate generation.