Abstract
The conventional practices of surface mine waste disposal have raised significant environmental concerns. Poor tailings impoundment stability and the generation of Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) are the main challenges. An innovative approach has emerged, emphasizing the commingling of waste rock and tailings to form self-supporting dry stacks, offering potential control over ARD.
This paper uses the Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT) scanning technique to analyze the internal structure of commingled materials. Analyzing the internal properties such as porosity, pore structure, and tortuosity provides a comprehensive understanding of the geotechnical and geochemical behaviour of commingled materials.
Previous studies indicate reduced ARD generation and enhanced geotechnical stability through waste rock and tailings commingling. This research addresses the gaps in knowledge regarding the impact of different mixture ratios and the connection between mixture structure and behaviour. This research designs and investigates various mixture ratios of waste rock and tailings at different solid contents, leveraging particle packing theory for binary mixtures and establishing a link between structural characteristics and the geotechnical and geochemical properties of the material.
This study offers significant insights into optimizing mixture ratios by understanding the internal structure of commingled material that can effectively mitigate ARD and contribute to a more geotechnically stable mine waste disposal.