Iron Ore Tailings: A comprehensive review

Alvaro Reyes 1
1 Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter, Penry, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK;
E-mail: ar965@exeter.ac.uk

1. Introduction 4. Treatment or reuse options for IOT

• Iron is the 4th most abundant element in the Earth's crust. • The reuse of IOT is mainly developed in the field of building
• Iron ores were the largest mined minerals in 2022 (2.6 out of and construction materials (e.g., raw IOT can work as a
2.8 billion metric tons) primarily for steel manufacturing. substitute for fine aggregates and soil in concrete and soil-
• 1.5 tonnes of iron ore tailings (IOT) are generated per tonne cement bricks, respectively) (Fig. 3).
of iron concentrate produced.
• IOT are stored in dams, posing a risk to the environment and • For such applications, compressive
human health (e.g., 34 million m3 of tailings were released to strength of the material increases
the environment during the Fundão Dam failure in November with increasing substitution of IOT
2015 in Minas Gerais, Brazil). up to an upper limit (40 %). Beyond
this limit, the compressive strength
2. Iron ore beneficiation process decreases due to microcracking.
• Replacement of cement with IOT is
• Common iron ore types are hematite-rich and itabirite (BIF). not recommended given its low
• These rocks host hematite (Fe2O3), magnetite (Fe3O4), pozzolanic activity.
goethite (FeOOH), and gangue minerals (i.e., quartz, • Workability decreases due to the
kaolinite, gibbsite, and minor amounts of minerals with Ca, Fig. 3. Soil-cement bricks with friction between angular particles of
IOT from the Fundão Dam
Mg, Mn, S, and P content). (Vilela et al., 2020)
tailings (Fig. 2).
• Typical iron ore beneficiation process is shown in Fig. 1.
• Desliming (prior to flotation) removes fine clay particles. • Fine IOT separated by dry segregation can be used for tile
• Cationic reverse flotation removes excess quartz, thereby manufacturing. Thermal stability must be ensured at 1100 °C.
resulting in coarse tailings (average particle size ≥ 75 μm). • Raw IOT with a Si/Al ratio ranging between 3.2 and 4.5 can
be used for the synthesis of alkali-activated materials and
geopolymers (Fig. 4).

Fig. 1. Beneficiation process of iron ores (Carmignano et al., 2021)

3. Iron Ore Tailings (IOT) characteristics

• Major crystalline phases include quartz, goethite, hematite,
and kaolinite. Accordingly, the chemical composition of IOT
Fig. 4. Geopolymers produced with high Si content IOT (Carmignano et al., 2021)
reveals higher contents of SiO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3.
• Non-toxic nature based on leaching tests (SPLP or TCLP).
• Particles have an angular 5. Conclusions
and irregular shape (Fig. 2).
• IOT particle size distribution The continuous and massive production of iron concentrates
curves appear displaced to and current processing methods result in significant amounts of
the left in comparison to tailings. Long-term storage of IOT in open dams constitutes a
sand particles. Particles can latent risk to the environment and public health. The above
measure up to 1000 μm. solutions are shown as alternatives for the reuse of IOT.
• Due to their mineralogical Nevertheless, given the variety in the mineralogy of each
composition, IOT are stable deposit and hence in its resulting iron ore waste, specific tests
and non-acid generators. must be carried out at each mine site to evaluate the technical
Fig. 2. SEM of IOT at 20 μm (Wang et and environmental feasibility of these approaches.
al., 2023)

6. References
• Carmignano, O.R. et al. (2021) ‘Iron Ore Tailings: Characterization and Applications’, Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society, pp. 1895–1911. Available at: https://doi.org/10.21577/0103-5053.20210100.
• Fontes, W.C. et al. (2019) ‘Assessment of the use potential of iron ore tailings in the manufacture of ceramic tiles: From tailings-dams to “brown porcelain”’, Construction and Building Materials, 206, pp. 111–121. Available
at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.02.052.
• da Silva, A.P.V. et al. (2022) ‘Potentially toxic elements in iron mine tailings: Effects of reducing soil pH on available concentrations of toxic elements’, Environmental Research, 215. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.114321.
• U.S. Geological Survey (2023) Mineral commodity summaries 2023. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3133/mcs2023 (Accessed: 25 November 2023).
• Vilela, A.P. et al. (2020) ‘Technological properties of soil-cement bricks produced with iron ore mining waste’, Construction and Building Materials, 262. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.120883.
• Wang, C. et al. (2023) ‘Basic characteristics and environmental impact of iron ore tailings’, Frontiers in Earth Science, 11. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2023.1181984.
• Wu, S. et al. (2011) ‘Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles synthesis from tailings by ultrasonic chemical co-precipitation’, Materials Letters, 65(12), pp. 1882–1884. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2011.03.065.
• Zhao, J. et al. (2021) ‘An evaluation of iron ore tailings characteristics and iron ore tailings concrete properties’, Construction and Building Materials. Elsevier Ltd. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.122968.
• Zhao, S., Fan, J. and Sun, W. (2014) ‘Utilization of iron ore tailings as fine aggregate in ultra-high performance concrete’, Construction and Building Materials, 50, pp. 540–548. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.10.019.