Technological advancements in mineral processing have increased the feasibility of refining low-grade ores. Because of this progression and continual depletion of high-grade ore deposits, much larger volumes of waste material are produced. At the same time, increasing environmental legislation and cost competitiveness dictate that these wastes be disposed of in a manner that is both environmentally acceptable and economically viable. To achieve these criteria. many mineral processing industries are dewatering waste streams in order to reduce the volume of tailings and increase water and reagent recovery. The subsequent dry disposal of these highly concentrated mineral tailings requires a thorough understanding of the effects of dewatering on the flow characteristics. Dry disposal represents a paradigm shift in engineering. The tailings are engineered to suit the disposal requirements, as opposed to engineering a facility to accommodate the tailings. It is therefore important to understand how the material properties and operational parameters can be modified to produce the desired tailings flow and deposition characteristics. As concentrated suspensions usually exhibit non-Newtonian behaviour, determination of the disposal plant operating conditions requires a thorough understanding of the rheological characteristics of the material. The implementation and optimisation of dry disposal methods involves three concurrent and interdependent rheological studies to determine (1) the concentration required to achieve the optimum spreading and drying characteristics of the tailings once deposited, (2) the optimum conditions for pipeline transport and (3) the feasibility of dewatering the slurry to the required concentration. The paper presents an overview of the issues pertinent to management of the flow properties and processing of dewatered waste streams.
Management of the flow and processing of mining waste streams
Steuerung von Fließverhalten und Verarbeitung verschiedener Bergbaurückstände
Green Processing 2002, International Conference on the Sustainable Processing of Minerals, 2002 ; 251-257
2002
7 Seiten, 7 Bilder, 18 Quellen
Conference paper
English
Abfalllagerung , Abgänge , Abgängedeponie , Bergbauindustrie , Eindicken , Entwässern (Verfahrenstechnik) , Fließschema , Fließverhalten , Gesamtsystem , Hydrodynamik , Konzentrationseinfluss , Kostenoptimierung , nicht-Newtonsche Flüssigkeit , Pipeline-Transport , Pumpenförderer , Rest (Rückstand) , Rheologie , Suspension , Transportkosten
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