A Critical Review on Potential Use of Iron Ore Tailings as Structural Fill Material

Abstract

India is well enriched with abundant resources of magnetite and hematite iron ore. Mining activities are tremendously increasing to cater the demand of market, which in turn is responsible for huge generation of mining waste. Mine tailings impoundments produced during beneficiation and extraction of iron ores create environmental threat and are disposed at high monetary and ecological cost. There is a need to find a sustainable and economical solution to handle large quantity of generated waste. Depleting natural resources like granular soil as backfill material needs a substitution in many application-like pavements, mechanically stabilized wall, embankments, etc. This paper presents a critical review on literatures highlighting on use and reuse potential of iron ore tailings as a backfill material in structural application such as MSE wall, embankments, pavements. Characterization and engineering behaviour of the tailings are the central necessity for estimating its effectiveness as its properties vary from ore structure. Mineralogical characterization, shear strength, permeability, workability, and compressive strength are the properties discussed in this paper. Results show that iron ore tailings have properties which can be considered as an effective substitute in structural applications. Adopting it as backfill material can be considered an environmentally friendly method of stabilization. It protects the surface structures and abate subsidence in abandoned underground mines. It has its potential in handling large volume of tailings and significantly reduces the quantity of waste generated in the state.