Evaporation, Unsaturated Flow, and Salt Accumulation in Multilayer Deposits of “Paste” Gold Tailings
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 12
Abstract
Both the geotechnical and geoenvironmental performances of surface deposited “paste” mine tailings are strongly influenced by desiccation, rewetting after precipitation, as well as interlayer flow. All these processes strongly depend on unsaturated flow within the tailings. Modeling of small (0.15 m in diameter)- and large ( in plan)-scale tests on two-layer deposits of paste gold tailings showed that desiccation and interlayer flow can be reasonably modeled using one-dimensional unsaturated flow codes, if volume change and its effect on the water-retention curve are considered. Though significant cracking occurred during drying of the paste tailings, its influence on the rate of evaporation was minimal. In some of the tests, the accumulation of salt at the surface substantially suppressed the rate of evaporation. The transport of ions leading to the accumulation of salt is modeled using a one-dimensional contaminant transport code coupled to the unsaturated flow code. The results provide insight into the coupling between evaporation and the accumulation of salts at the tailings’ surface.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This study was funded in part by grants from the National Sciences Engrg. Res. Council of Canada (NSERC) and Barrick Gold Corporation.NSERCUNSPECIFIED
References
Aubertin, M., Bussiere, B., and Chapuis, R. P. (1996). “Hydraulic conductivity of homogenized tailings from hard rock mines.” Can. Geotech. J., 33, 470–482.
Cincilla, W. A., Landriault, D. A., and Verburg, R. (1997). “Application of paste technology to surface disposal of mineral wastes.” Proc., 4th Int. Conf. on Tailings and Mine Waste ’97, Balkema, Lisse, Netherlands, 343–356.
Couto, R., Grabinsky, M. W., and Simms, P. H. (2006). “Shrinkage characteristics of surface deposited paste tailings.” Proc., 2006 Canadian Geotechnical Conf.
Crowder, J. J. (2004). “Deposition, consolidation, and strength of a non-plastic tailings paste for surface disposal.” Ph.D. thesis, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.
Fisseha, B. (2008). “Evaporation and unsaturated flow in multilayer deposits of gold paste tailings.” MASc. thesis, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton Univ., Ottawa, Ont.
Fitton, T. G., Bhattacharya, S. N., and Chryss, A. G. (2008). “Three-dimensional modeling of tailings beach shape.” Comput. Aided Civ. Infrastruct. Eng., 23, 31–44.
Flint, A. L., Campbell, G. S., Ellett, K. M., and Calissendorff, C. (2002). “Calibration and temperature correction of heat dissipation matric potential sensors.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 66, 1439–1445.
Fredlund, D. G., and Rahardjo, L. (1993). Soil mechanics for unsaturated soils, Wiley, New York.
Fredlund, D. G., and Xing, A. (1994). “Equations for the soil-water characteristic curve.” Can. Geotech. J., 31, 521–532.
Fredlund, D. G., Xing, A., and Huang, S. (1994). “Predicting the hydraulic conductivity function from unsaturated soils using the soil-water characteristic curve.” Can. Geotech. J., 31, 533–546.
Fujiyasu, Y., and Fahey, M. (2000). “Experimental study of evaporation from saline tailings.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 126, 18–27.
Fujiyasu, Y., Fahey, M., and Newson, T. (2000). “Field investigation of evaporation from freshwater tailings.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 126(6), 556–567.
Gitrana, G. F. N. (2005). “Weather-related geohazard assessment for railway embankment stability.” Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Sask.
Guan, Y., and Fredlund, D. G. (1997). “Use of the tensile strength of water for the direct measurement of high soil suction.” Can. Geotech. J., 34(4), 604–614.
Henriquez, J., and Simms, P. (2009). “Dynamic imaging and modelling of multilayer deposition of gold paste tailings.” Minerals Eng., 22(2), 128–139.
International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) and UNEP. (2001). Bulletin 121: Tailings dams—Risk of dangerous occurrences, lessons learnt from practical experiences.
Jambor, J. L. (2003). “Mine-waste mineralogy and mineralogical perspectives of acid-base accounting.” Environmental aspects of mine wastes, Mineral. Assoc. Can. Short Series Vol. 31, J. L. Jambor, D. W. Blowes, and A. I. M. Ritchie, eds., Mineral Association of Canada, Quebec, 117–145.
Leong, E. C., and Rahardjo, H. (1997). “Permeability functions for unsaturated soils.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 123, 1118–1126.
Martin, V., Aubertin, M., and McMullen, J. (2006). “Surface disposal of paste tailings.” 5th Int. Congress on Environmental Geotechnics, Vol. 2, 1471–1478.
Pirouz, B., and Williams, M. P. A. (2007). “Prediction of non-segregating thickened tailings beach slopes—A new method.” Proc., 10th Int. Seminar on Paste and Thickened Tailings, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, Australia, 315–327.
Qiu, Y., and Sego, D. C. (2001). “Laboratory properties of mine tailings.” Can. Geotech. J., 38, 183–190.
Robinsky, E. I. (1999). “Thickened tailings disposal in the mining industry, Robinsky Associates, Toronto, Ont.
Shuttleworth, J. A., Thomson, B. J., and Wates, J. A. (2005). “Surface disposal at Bulyanhulu—Practical lessons learned.” 6th Int. Conf. on Paste and Thickened Tailings, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, Australia.
Simms, P., Grabinsky, M. W., and Zhan, G. (2007). “Modelling evaporation of paste tailings from the Bulyanhulu mine.” Can. Geotech. J., 44, 1417–1432.
Theriault, J., Frostiak, J., and Welch, D. (2003). “Surface disposal of paste tailings at the Bulyanhulu Gold Mine.” Proc., Sudbury 2003, Mining and the Environment, G. Spiers, P. Beckett, and H. Conroy, eds., 265–269.
van Genuchten, M. Th. (1980). “A closed-form solution for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 44(5), 892–898.
Wijewickreme, D., Sanin, M. V., and Greenaway, G. R. (2005). “Cyclic shear response of fine-grained mine tailings.” Can. Geotech. J., 42, 1408–1421.
Wilson, G. W., Fredlund, D. G., and Barbour, S. L. (1997). “The effect of soil suction on evaporative fluxes from soil surfaces.” Can. Geotech. J., 34(1), 145–155.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 12 • December 2010
Pages: 1703 - 1712
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 22, 2008
Accepted: Apr 12, 2010
Published online: Apr 15, 2010
Published in print: Dec 2010
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.