Evaluation of the neutralization performances of the industrial waste products (IWPs) in sulphide-rich environment of cemented paste backfill.

The purpose of this research is to examine the neutralization performances of CaO-rich industrial waste products (IWPs) in the sulphide-rich environment of cemented paste backfill (CPB). A total of 205 CPB samples were prepared by using four different IWPs (type-C fly ash (C-FA), blast furnace slag (BFS), calcitic limestone (CL) and dolomitic limestone (DL)) as 5, 10 and 15 wt% substitute for sulphide-rich tailings. These CPB samples were cured and subjected to the acid (pH) and sulphate (SO42-) tests during 7-360 days of curing periods. MIP and XRD tests were also carried out to understand the generation of acid and sulphate and their effect on CPB stability at 28 and 180 days. The findings indicated that the utilisation of IWPs in CPB mixtures mitigated the acid (up to 58.9% higher pH values) and sulphate (up to 72.1% lower SO42- ion release) production, and enhanced the microstructure (12.43% lower total porosity) of CPBs owing to the neutralization potential, pore-filling effect, pozzolanic and partially binding characteristics of IWPs. It can be inferred from these findings that the IWPs can be suitably utilised as neutralization materials in CPB of sulphide-rich tailings. This in turn allows the mitigation of potential disposal/pollution problems associated with these IWPs.

Utilisation of construction and demolition waste as cemented paste backfill material for underground mine openings.

This study presents the utilisation of finely ground construction and demolition waste (CDW) as partial replacement (5-15 wt.%) to sulphide tailings on the short- and long-term strength, durability (i.e. no loss of strength) and microstructural properties of cemented paste backfill (CPB) over a curing period of 360 days. The CPB samples containing CDW were prepared at binder dosages of 7.5 and 8.5 wt.%, while control samples (full tailings) were only produced at 8.5 wt.% binder dosage. A total of 108 CPB samples were subjected to the unconfined compressive strength (UCS), acid/sulphate (pH, SO42-) and microstructure (MIP, XRD etc.) tests. Despite its limited contribution to the resistance of CPB to acid and sulphate attack, the use of CDW as partial replacement (5-15 wt.%) to sulphide tailings enhanced the strength properties of CPB samples by decreasing the total and macro porosity. The UCSs and pH values of CPB samples increased with increasing the CDW content in CPB mixtures, while the generation of sulphate ions (SO42-) decreased irrespective of the binder dosages. Compared with control samples prepared at 8.5 wt.% binder dosage, 5.3-19.5% higher UCS values were obtained for the CPB samples containing 15 wt.% CDW prepared even at 7.5 wt.% binder dosage. Mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) analyses proved the beneficial effect of the use of CDW on the microstructural properties (i.e. total porosity) of CPB. These findings suggest that CDW materials can be suitably used as backfill material in the mining industry to fill underground voids created during the ore production. This offers safe disposal and hence environmentally sound management of CDW.

Core size effect on the dry and saturated ultrasonic pulse velocity of limestone samples.

This study presents the effect of core length on the saturated (UPVsat) and dry (UPVdry) P-wave velocities of four different biomicritic limestone samples, namely light grey (BL-LG), dark grey (BL-DG), reddish (BL-R) and yellow (BL-Y), using core samples having different lengths (25-125mm) at a constant diameter (54.7mm). The saturated P-wave velocity (UPVsat) of all core samples generally decreased with increasing the sample length. However, the dry P-wave velocity (UPVdry) of samples obtained from BL-LG and BL-Y limestones increased with increasing the sample length. In contrast to the literature, the dry P-wave velocity (UPVdry) values of core samples having a length of 75, 100 and 125mm were consistently higher (2.8-46.2%) than those of saturated (UPVsat). Chemical and mineralogical analyses have shown that the P wave velocity is very sensitive to the calcite and clay minerals potentially leading to the weakening/disintegration of rock samples in the presence of water. Severe fluctuations in UPV values were observed to occur between 25 and 75mm sample lengths, thereafter, a trend of stabilization was observed. The maximum variation of UPV values between the sample length of 75mm and 125mm was only 7.3%. Therefore, the threshold core sample length was interpreted as 75mm for UPV measurement in biomicritic limestone samples used in this study.

Assessment of strength properties of cemented paste backfill by ultrasonic pulse velocity test.

Ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) test is one of the most popular non-destructive techniques used in the assessment of the mechanical properties of concrete or rock materials. In this study, the effects of binder type/dosage, water to cement ratio (w/c) and fines content (<20 µm) of the tailings on ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) of cemented paste backfill (CPB) samples were investigated and correlated with the corresponding unconfined compressive strength (UCS) data. A total of 96 CPB samples prepared at different mixture properties were subjected to the UPV and UCS tests at 7, 14, 28 and 56-days of curing periods. UPV and UCS of CPB samples of ordinary Portland cement (CEM I 42.5 R) and sulphate resistant cement (SRC 32.5) initially increased rapidly, but, slowed down after 14 days. However, UPV and UCS of CPB samples of the blast furnace slag cement (CEM III/A 42.5 N) steadily increased between 7 and 56 days. Increasing binder dosage or reducing w/c ratio and fines content (<20 µm) increased the UCS and UPV of CPB samples. UPV was found to be particularly sensitive to fines content. UCS data were correlated with the corresponding UPV data. A linear relation appeared to exist between the UCS and UPV of CPB samples. These findings have demonstrated that the UPV test can be reliably used for the estimation of the strength of CPB samples.

Strength and ultrasonic properties of cemented paste backfill.

This paper presents the strength (UCS) and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) properties of cemented paste backfill (CPB) produced from two different mill tailings (Tailings T1 and T2). A total of 240 CPB samples with diameter×height of 5 × 10 cm and 10 × 20 cm prepared at different binder dosages (5-7 wt.%) and water-to-cement ratios (3.97-5.10) were subjected to the UPV and UCS tests at 7, 14, 28 and 56-days of curing periods. UCS and UPV of CPB samples increased with increasing the binder dosage and reducing the w/c ratio irrespective of the sample size and tailings type. CPB samples with a diameter × height of 5 × 10 cm were observed to produce consistently higher (up to 1.69-fold) UCSs than those of 10 × 20 cm CPB samples at all binder dosages and w/c ratios. However, at the corresponding binder dosages and w/c ratios, the maximum variation of UPV between the CPB samples of 5 × 10 cm and 10 × 20 cm was only 7.45%. Using the method of least squares regression, the UCS values were correlated with the UPV values for CPB samples of 10 × 20 cm in size. A linear relation with a high correlation coefficient appeared to exist between the UCS and UPV for CPB samples. These findings suggest that the UPV is essentially independent of the sample size. In this regard, the UPV test can be suitably exploited for the rapid estimation of the strength and quality of CPB samples even using small samples with concomitant benefits of reducing sample size.

Effect of desliming of sulphide-rich mill tailings on the long-term strength of cemented paste backfill.

This paper presents the effect of desliming on the short- and long-term strength, stability and rheological properties of cemented paste backfill (CPB) produced from two different mill tailings. A 28-day unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of ≥1.0 MPa and the maintenance of stability over 224 days of curing were selected as the design criteria for the evaluation of paste backfill performance. Desliming induced some changes in the physical, chemical, mineralogical and rheological properties of the tailings. CPB mixture of the deslimed tailings achieved the required consistency at a lower water to cement ratio. The short-term UCSs of CPB samples of the deslimed tailings were found to be 30-100% higher than those samples of the reference tailings at all the binder dosages and curing times. CPB samples of the deslimed tailings achieved the long-term stability at relatively low binder dosages (e.g. 5 wt% c.f. ≥6.1% for the reference tailings). It was also estimated that desliming could allow a 13.4-23.1% reduction in the binder consumption depending apparently on the inherent characteristics of the tailings. Over the curing period, generation of sulphate and acid by the oxidation of pyrite present in the tailings was also monitored to correlate with the strength losses observed in the long term. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry (MIP) analyses provided an insight into the microstructure of CPB and the formation of secondary mineral phases (i.e. gypsum) confirming the beneficial effect of desliming. These findings suggest that desliming can be suitably exploited for CPB of sulphide-rich mill tailings to improve the strength and stability particularly in the long term and to reduce binder consumption.

Utilization of water-reducing admixtures in cemented paste backfill of sulphide-rich mill tailings.

This study presents the effect of three different water-reducing admixtures (WRAs) on the rheological and mechanical properties of cemented paste backfill (CPB) samples. A 28-day strength of > or = 0.7 MPa and the maintenance of the stability (i.e. > or = 0.7 MPa) over 360 days of curing were desired as the design criteria. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and Portland composite cement (PCC) were used as binders at 5 wt.% dose. WRAs were initially tested to determine the dosage of a WRA for a required consistency of 7'' for CPB mixtures. A total of 192 CPB samples were then prepared using WRAs. The utilization of WRAs enhanced the flow characteristics of the CPB mixture and allowed to achieve the same consistency at a lower water-to-cement ratio. For OPC, the addition of WRAs appeared to improve the both short- and long-term performance of CPB samples. However, only polycarboxylate-based superplasticiser produced the desired 28-day strength of > or = 0.7 MPa when PCC was used as the binder. These findings suggest that WRAs can be suitably exploited for CPB of sulphide-rich tailings to improve the strength and stability in short and long terms allowing to reduce binder costs in a CPB plant.

Effect of natural pozzolans as mineral admixture on the performance of cemented-paste backfill of sulphide-rich tailings.

This paper presents the effect of the natural pozzolans as mineral additives on the short- and long-term strength and stability performance of cemented paste backfill (CPB) samples. Prior to their use in CPB studies, the natural pozzolans - the volcanic tuffs (Akkus Trass [AT] and Fatsa Trass [FT]) and pumice (KP) - were tested for their pozzolanic characteristics. These tests revealed that the pozzolanic activity of the natural pozzolans is closely inter-related with their content of reactive silica and, accordingly, KP has the highest pozzolanic activity. The addition, or increasing the amount, of natural pozzolans in the binder phase resulted in a slower rate of strength development of CPB samples. The deterioration in stability of CPB samples prepared from Portland cement (PC) alone (i.e. a strength loss of 24.6%) occurred following 56 days. The replacement of PC with FT and AT led to even higher losses in strength. However, the addition of KP (up to 30 wt%) mitigated, to a certain extent, long-term strength and stability problems with the losses in strength of CPB samples consistently lower than 20%. It can be inferred that the performance of the natural pozzolans as a mineral additive in CPB is dependent intimately on their pozzolanic characteristics.

Utilization of industrial waste products as pozzolanic material in cemented paste backfill of high sulphide mill tailings.

In this study, the potential use of the industrial waste products including waste glass (WG), fly ash (FA), granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) and silica fume (SF) as pozzolanic additive for the partial replacement of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in cemented paste backfill (CPB) of sulphide-rich mill tailings was investigated. The influence of these industrial waste products on the short- and long-term mechanical performance of CPB was demonstrated. The rate of development of strength of CPB samples tended to slow down when the pozzolanic wastes were incorporated or increased in dosage in the binder phase. Severe losses (by 26%) in the strength of CPB samples produced from exclusively OPC occurred after an initial curing period of 56 days. The addition of WG (10-30 wt%) as a partial replacement of OPC was observed to aggravate further the strength losses of CPB samples. GBFS, FA and SF appeared to improve the long-term performance of CPB samples; albeit, only GBFS and SF could be incorporated into the binder phase only at certain levels i.e. up to 20 wt% GBFS and 15wt% SF in order to maintain a threshold strength level of 0.7MPa over 360 days. SEM studies have provided further insight into the microstucture of CPB and confirmed the formation of deleterious gypsum as the expansive phase. These findings have demonstrated that the industrial waste products including GBFS and SF can be suitably used as mineral additives to improve the long-term mechanical performance of CPB produced from sulphide-rich tailings as well as to reduce the binder costs in a CPB plant.