Rheological Perspectives of Clay-Based Tailings in the Mining Industry

The mining industry faces a significant problem in regions with water scarcity and has had to put in place new strategies to preserve its environmental and economic sustainability. An attractive option in recent years has been the direct use of seawater, avoiding the construction of reverse osmosis plants to desalinate. But, some operational complexities are the subject of discussion and research for engineers; for example, the difficulties by the high presence of complex gangues like clays and the location of the plants, far from the coast and at high altitude. The latter requires high investments in pumping, the only option in some cases. In this scenario, it is imperative to improve the efficiency of water use and advance to effective closures of water circuits. A critical stage is the thickening that allows water to be recovered from the tailings, reusing it in upstream operations. However, the performance of the tailings management is usually limited by the rheological properties of the thickened slurries, which impact on the discharge from the underflow of the thickeners, pumping energy costs, disposal on the tailings storage facilities (TSFs). This text describes the consequences caused by a saline medium on the rheological properties of clay-based tailings, analysing scenarios that allow tackling this operation