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Introduction
Published in Karra Ram Chandar, B. C. Gayana, P. Shubhananda Rao, Mine Waste Utilization, 2022
Mine waste can be classified as follows:Overburden: It includes the rock and soil particles removed while gaining access to the mineral deposit in surface mines. It will be deposited on the surface of mine itself, which occupies a large area.Waste rock: Materials that contain negligible amount of mineral concentration are termed as waste rock. It will not be economical to extract minerals from it based on the present technology. The waste rock is suitable for earthwork on site during mining operations and as aggregate for concrete works.Tailings: Tailings are mineral waste products and finely grounded particles generated during the processing of ore. It may also contain traces of processing chemicals and are deposited in the tailing ponds in the form of water-based slurry. Due to its fine particle size, tailings can be used only in selective operations. Based on the type of tailing ponds, the water can be drained so that the remaining waste can be dried.
Bioremediation of Potentially Toxic Metals by Microorganisms and Biomolecules
Published in Ram Naresh Bharagava, Sandhya Mishra, Ganesh Dattatraya Saratale, Rijuta Ganesh Saratale, Luiz Fernando Romanholo Ferreira, Bioremediation, 2022
Luciana Maria Saran, Bárbara Bonfá Buzzo, Cinara Ramos Sales, Lucia Maria Carareto Alves, Renan Lieto Alves Ribeiro
It is noteworthy that the management of mining tailings is an inherently risky activity that typically involves the use of waste processing chemicals and high amounts of metals. In many cases, tailings are stored in mounds or in large lagoons where they are held by dams. The collapse of dams or mounds can result in serious impacts on the environment and on human health and safety. Examples of these types of incidents include accidents in Aberfan (Wales, 1966), Stava (Italy, 1985), Aznalcóllar (Spain, 1998), Baia Mare, Baia Borsa (Romania, 2000) and, most recently, Itabirito in Brazil (2014), Mariana (2015) and Brumadinho (2019) in the state of Minas Gerais.
PGM Recovery from Mine Waste
Published in Hossain Md Anawar, Vladimir Strezov, Abhilash, Sustainable and Economic Waste Management, 2019
The major challenge facing most companies is how to properly manage the waste and tailings material so as to minimize or eliminate their impact on the environment. The key long-term goal of waste disposal and management is to prevent the mobilization and release into the environment of toxic constituents of these wastes. Tailings waste material is often stored in impoundments behind dams. However, the mining industry is filled with numerous cases of tailings dam collapse (e.g. the 1974 Bafokeng tailings disaster) leading to the flooding of communities (WISE, 2012; van Niekerk and Viljoen, 2005). The magnitude and often toxic nature of the material held within the tailings dams means that dam failure can have a massive impact on the environment, human health, aquatic life and economies. The impact can be felt in the immediate aftermath of the dam collapse with loss of life. The death toll on human and animals due to drowning or suffocation can be very high. In addition, the impact can be felt over the medium to long term, due to the long-term exposure to toxic contaminants.
Climate change risks and vulnerabilities during mining exploration, operations, and reclamation: A regional approach for the mining sector in Québec, Canada
Published in CIM Journal, 2022
É. Bresson, B. Bussière, T. Pabst, I. Demers, P. Charron, P. Roy
An increase in annual mean and extreme precipitation may bring increased volumes of water to the mine site. It may also become necessary to pump more water out of underground stopes or open pits to keep working areas dry. Water management infrastructure is often designed based on historical precipitation data (Pearce et al., 2011). Climate change may make it necessary to have larger water spillways to prevent the uncontrolled release of contaminated water into the environment. In addition, tailings are stored in impoundments that are often surrounded by dikes or dams that must be capable of resisting a certain amount of water pressure. An increase in pore water pressure due to greater annual and extreme precipitation could increase the risk of geotechnical instabilities in these structures, and ultimately lead to dam failure (Rico, Benito, Salgueiro, Díez-Herrero, & Pereira, 2008; Rodríguez et al., 2021).
Hazards identification and characterisation of the tailings storage facility dam failure and engineering applications
Published in International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and Environment, 2022
Tthe increasing demand for minerals has generated advanced technologies for the exploration, mining and processing of low-grade ores, thereby producing larger volumes of tailings [1]. As waste byproducts of mining and mineral processing, tailings are what are left once the useful minerals have been extracted. A tailings storage facility (TSF) is a complicated geotechnical engineering structure, which is surrounded by natural heights and/or artificial walls and used to store tailings [2]. When a TSF dam failure happens, the huge mass of tailings combined with wastewater may be released with high-speed slurry flows over long run-out distances, which can have catastrophic consequences. For example, on 8 September 2008, the tailings dam failure at the 980 Gou in Shanxi province in China caused 277 deaths, 33 injuries and a direct economic loss of 96.16 million yuan [3]; On 5 November 2015, Samarco’s Fundão tailings dam in Brazil suddenly broke, resulting in 19 deaths, and this failure is considered to be the worst mining environmental disaster in recent years [4–6]. Failure effects can be inevitable and unpredictable, and include heavy economic losses, significant and irreversible environmental degradation and, in many cases, loss of lives [7–9].
Preparation and characterisation of environmental-friendly ceramsites from iron ore tailings and sludge
Published in International Journal of Sustainable Engineering, 2021
Z. Wang, H. J. Chen, L. Z. Pei, X. Y. Guo, C. G. Fan
Rich mineral resources exist in China which promotes the industrial and social development. Tailings are produced as solid waste during the mineral treatment process and discharged into the soil after crushing. They are secondary resources containing trace minerals, which leads to the complex symbiotic relationship in the form of fine particles and particulate inclusions (Wang et al. 2014). The reaction of the sulphide, phosphide and water exposed to the air during the tailings accumulation is the main acid-producing process, which makes the water acidified and eutrophic (Liu, Liu, and Li 2011; Choi et al. 2009). Tailings can not only cause serious environmental pollution and ecological problems but also bring about industrial accidents and casualties. Therefore, it is an important significance to deal with the tailings for the assurance of the environmental safety and human health (Yue and Chen 2013; Yi et al. 2009; Li et al. 2010).