Geomechanical response of waste rock and

tailings mixtures
Sebastián Yáñez, Gonzalo Suazo and Jerónimo Covacevich
 Conventional Mine Waste Management – Main Risks
Tailings Storage Facilities (TSF) Waste rock dumps

Disastrous tailings dam failures: Acid rock drainage (ARD)

• Human life losses FeS2 + 7/2O2 + H2O → Fe2+ + 2SO42- + 2H+
• Environmental damages Fe2+ + 1/4O2 + H+ → Fe3+ + 1/2H2O

• Economical losses Fe3+ + 3H2O → Fe(OH)3 + 3H+

FeS2 + 14Fe3+ + 8H2O → 15Fe2+ + 16H+ + 2SO42-
 Co-disposal – A New and Attractive Alternative
Tailings Storage Facilities (TSF) Waste rock dumps

Co-Disposal of Mine Waste

• Limit acid rock drainage (ARD) Potential to improve
• Improve shear strength of pure tailings physical and chemical
• Minimize dam construction requirements stability of mine waste
• Reduce waste facility land disturbance facilities

( Williams , 1993 ; Wilson et al. , 2002 ; Wickland , 2006 )

 Co-disposal Overview
• No history of deposits built entirely with this
method
• Implementation in closure coverage system of
conventional TSF
• Large-scale field testing: Piles of filtered tailings
and waste rock mixtures. GoldCorp, 2017
Final cover system of Daggafontein Gold TSF, South Africa
(Gowan et al, 2010)
How to design (and built) these type
of storage structures?
Generating and increasing knowledge of
geotechnical and geochemical behavior of this
new material (tailings and waste rock mixtures)

Piles of filtered tailings and waste rock mixtures

Main objective of our research! (GoldCorp,2017)
 Experimental Program
• Undrained triaxial tests (CIU) were performed in tailings-waste rock 1

mixtures.
e
• Triaxial test in waste rock and pure tailings were included. 5

• Mixture ratio R = 4 and R = 2.

e e
• Effective confining stress ranging from σ’c = 100 to 400 kPa. 1

1 1 1 1 1 1
• Parallel gradation (homothetic curve) in waste rock was considered. e e ( )

• Waste rock and mixture specimens: 100x200mm (diameter x O e e e e

height).

R = Mr/Mt
Mr : Dry mass waste rock

Mt : Dry mass tailings

Tailings specimen R=4 specimen

 Results and Discussion - Baseline
Waste rock – CID
Waste rock – CID Tests :
• Loose density ( DR = 25%)
• Contractive response
• ϕ’t = 36.0°
• Shear strength decreases at higher σ’c

Tailings – CIU Tests : Tailings - CIU

• Initial density at RC = 70% and 80%
• Strain-softening and contractive
response
• ϕ’t = 35.5°
 Results and Discussion - Mixture ratio
• CIU for R = 2 and 4 (Initial density
RC=80%)
• Strain-hardening response.
• Initial contractive follow by dilative
tendency.
• Limited flow type behavior
• Strength parameters:
ϕ’R=4 > ϕ’ R=2 > ϕ’tailings
• Larger effects of tailings on shear
strength when R=2.
• Results like to pure waste rock
material (WR)
 Results and Discussion - Initial density effect
• CIU tests for RC = 80% and 85% for R = 4.
• Initial contractive response decreases at higher initial density
 Results and Discussion - Confining pressure effects
At higher confining pressures, mixtures:
• Decrease the initial contractive Waste rock
response
• Increase effective friction angle

Mixtures
 Results and Discussion - Waste rock PSD effects
Modified PSD of waste rock (coarser material)
• CIU tests at σ’c = 100 kPa in WR and mixture R=4
(MR4*)
Results:
• Clear dilative response, lower generation of
excess pore pressures and higher shear strength
• Waste rock controls response of mixtures
 Results and Discussion – Critical state analysis
• The critical state line (CSL) of all materials were determined.
• CSL slope of mixtures and waste rock are similar
 Results and Discussion – Critical state analysis

• To characterize the response of mixtures, the

e e e (ψ0) was determined
from triaxial tests.
• An increase in the state parameter of the
mixtures results in a decrease in the
normalized maximum deviator stress.
• A logarithmic curve was best fitted to the
datapoints (R2 = 0.89)
 Conclusion and Final Comments
• This research component explores the geomechanical and undrained shear strength of tailings-waste rock
mixtures.
• The triaxial tests for all mixtures (R=2 and R=4) under undrained loading showed strain-hardening type of
response. The specimens tend to contract initially followed by dilative response
• The mixtures considered in this study are unlikely to experience a flow type of failure (i.e.,static liquefaction). The
behavior of tailings-waste rock mixtures was generally like the response of waste rock.
• The effective friction angle for R=4 was greater than specimens prepared at R=2, which instead was greater
than friction angle of tailings.
• Secant friction angle of the tailings-waste rock mixtures increases at higher effective confining stress. This is
believed to be a result of the tailings increasing the contact of the coarser particle, thus, enhancing overall
strength.
• Strong correlation between the initial state parameter (ψ0) and the normalized maximum stress ratio (Δσmax/σ'c)
was observed for the different mixtures considered.
 Future Works
• Advance in the adequate characterization of coarse granular materials, validate homothetic
curves and/or increase the size of tested specimens.
• Increase the range of mixture ratios studied. Included tailings-dominated mixture.
• Determine the response of mixtures to cyclic load.
• Increase this range of pressures and include a quantification of aspects such as particle
breakage.
• Develop and promote large-scale mixing technologies.
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