Electrokinetic thickening and dewatering of mine tailings

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The long-term objective of this research is to advance electrokinetic (EK) thickening and dewatering to a mature technology available to the mining industry for tailings disposal, mine closure and land reclamation. The short-term objectives during the 5-year period of DG are (1) develop standard testing facilities for assessment of EK treatability of mine tailings; (2) develop non-consumable anode systems suitable for thickening and dewatering of mine tailings; (3) develop a design framework for EK dewatering of mine tailings, which will be used for assessment, implementation and operation of EK dewatering of mine tailing; and (4) carry out theoretical, numerical and experimental studies using tailings samples collected worldwide, as well as conduct case studies to verify the design framework developed in this research. In mining operations, large quantities of tailings are generated daily from ore processing, in which a significant fraction has grain sizes less than 10 micrometers. EK thickening and dewatering of fine tailings can achieve much higher solid contents in much less time, as compared to conventional methods. It is relatively easy to implement and control with minimal environmental impacts. With proper engineering design, the technology can be energy and cost efficient. Three PhD students, three master students, five undergraduate students and one postdoctoral fellow will receive training in the research activities. The research will establish an innovative dewatering technology, which is urgently needed because of difficulties of fine tailings dewatering using existing technologies. In addition to applications in mining engineering, the research has potential impacts in other engineering disciplines where liquid-solid separation is required. Finally the research will enhance the science of electrokinetics for future engineering applications.