Optimization of the use of waste rock inclusions in tailings impoundments to improve their short and long-term performance

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The research will focus on an innovative method for the storage tailings and waste rock that results in improved environmental and geotechnical performance and thus reduces major risks associated with mining. The method consists of the co-disposal of tailings and waste rock such that continuous inclusions of stronger, more permeable and more rigid waste rock are placed in tandem with tailings deposition. The inclusions accelerate consolidation, reinforce the impoundment and reduce the quantity of tailings released in the event of a rupture. This technique is currently in use at one mine, the Canadian Malartic Mine, and is being considered at other sites. There remain areas of uncertainty regarding the use of inclusions, including for instance the applicability of analytical and numerical methods of evaluation and design as well as practical considerations such as the amount and effects of tailings infiltration into the inclusions.