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.
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Acknowledgments
This study was funded in part by grants from the National Sciences Engrg. Res. Council of Canada (NSERC) and Barrick Gold Corporation.NSERCUNSPECIFIED
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© 2010 ASCE.
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Received: Sep 22, 2008
Accepted: Apr 12, 2010
Published online: Apr 15, 2010
Published in print: Dec 2010
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