Abstract
Aeolian sand, tailings, and #32.5 Portland cement were used to produce backfilling aggregate, and physicochemical evaluations and proportioning tests were conducted. It is revealed that a mixture of aeolian sand and tailings can be used as a backfilling aggregate for the complementarities of their physicochemical properties; e.g., high Al2O3 content in the aeolian sand and CaO content in the tailings, coarse particles of aeolian sand and fine particles of tailings, etc. In addition, the optimal backfilling aggregate was shown to have a mass fraction of 72%–74%, a cement–sand ratio of 1:8, and an aeolian sand proportion of 25%. Furthermore, viscometer tests were used to analyze the rheological characteristics, and the slurry in these optimized proportions exhibited shear thinning phenomena with an initial yield stress, which belongs to paste-like—a cemented backfilling slurry with a higher mass fraction than a two-phase flow and better flowability than a paste slurry. Finally, the application of this backfilling technology shows that it can not only realize safe mining, but also bring huge economic benefits, and has some constructive guidance for environmental protection.
Highlights
Backfill mining technology plays a significant role in environmental protection and the prevention of water resource pollution [1,2]
The tailings discharged from the concentrating mill in “A” mine (Inner Mongolia, China) are too fine for use as backfilling aggregate, with particles less than 0.075 mm accounting for 82.1% and a median particle size of 0.049 mm [4,5]
Deep-cone thickener is used for the storage of tailings in recent years [25], and drained aeolian sand can be stockpiled in horizontal sand silos
Summary
Backfill mining technology plays a significant role in environmental protection and the prevention of water resource pollution [1,2]. It has the potential to reduce backfilling costs if used as backfilling aggregate, it is an extremely homogeneous and coarse material when compared with the other materials mentioned above, which makes its use in building or backfilling aggregate practically impossible [7,8]. Considering their characteristics it may be possible to use aeolian sand as a backfilling aggregate after mixing with ultrafine tailings. The utilization of mixed aeolian sand and tailings as backfilling aggregate can bring huge economic benefits in a mine located in the Gobi area, and has some constructive guidance for environmental protection
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