Waste rock inclusions in filtered tailings storage facilities to improve their hydrogeotechnical and geochemical stability

过滤尾矿储存设施中的废石包裹体可提高其水文土工和地球化学稳定性

• 批准号: 536345-2018
• 负责人: Pabst, Thomas
• 金额: $ 3.37万
• 依托单位: École Polytechnique de Montréal
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=720130
• 关键词: Waste; rock; inclusions; filtered; tailings

One of the most critical issues faced by the mining industry is the management and safe disposal of the large quantities of mine wastes generated by the operations, and in particular tailings, which are fine-grained materials produced during the processing and concentration of ore minerals. Despite technical developments in the last decades, geotechnical instabilities still regularly occur like at the Mount Polley Mine, in 2014 (British-Columbia, Canada), or at the Bento Rodrigues mine (Mariana province, Brazil), in 2015. Although reasons for failures are numerous, they typically involve water. Dewatering improves the geotechnical properties of tailings and reduces the needs for confinement structures and, thus, the risk for instabilities. Filtered tailings especially present many advantages over traditional slurry tailings, like an improved water recovery and recirculation, a reduction of the geotechnical risk and consequences of dam failures, rapid consolidation and trafficability, and progressive reclamation. However, the long-term evolution of the water content in filtered tailings exposed to climatic conditions, the exposure to oxygen and the risk for contaminated mine drainage generation if the tailings are reactive, and the possible lixiviation of contaminants present in pore water, raise some questions about the applicability of the technique in humid climates. This research project aims to evaluate these risks and the performance of an innovative solution based on the use of waste rock inclusions (WRI) in filtered tailings storage facilities to improve their geotechnical long-term stability and control contaminant transport. The proposed research program includes field work, physical models in the laboratory and numerical simulations and optimization. The outcomes will include practical solutions to improve long-term stability of filtered tailings storage facilities and will be of great interests for mining companies considering filtered tailings disposal, in Canada and elsewhere.

采矿业面临的最关键问题之一是管理和安全处置采矿作业产生的大量矿山废物，特别是尾矿，尾矿是矿石矿物加工和浓缩过程中产生的细粒材料。尽管在过去几十年中技术不断发展，但岩土工程不稳定性仍然经常发生，例如2014年的Mount Polley矿（加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省）或2015年的Bento Rodrigues矿（巴西马里亚纳省）。虽然失败的原因很多，但通常都与水有关。脱水改善了尾矿的岩土特性，减少了对限制结构的需求，从而减少了不稳定的风险。与传统浆体尾矿相比，过滤尾矿尤其具有许多优势，例如改善水回收和再循环、降低岩土风险和溃坝后果、快速固结和通行能力以及渐进式复垦。然而，暴露于气候条件下的过滤尾矿中的水含量的长期演变，暴露于氧气和受污染的矿井排水的风险，如果尾矿是活性的，以及孔隙水中存在的污染物的可能浸出，提出了一些关于该技术在潮湿气候中的适用性的问题。该研究项目旨在评估这些风险以及基于在过滤尾矿储存设施中使用废石夹杂物（WRI）的创新解决方案的性能，以提高其岩土工程长期稳定性并控制污染物运输。建议的研究计划包括现场工作，在实验室和数值模拟和优化的物理模型。其成果将包括提高过滤尾矿储存设施长期稳定性的实用解决方案，并将对加拿大和其他地方考虑过滤尾矿处置的矿业公司产生重大影响。