A study of the factors affecting the disposal of high sulphide tailings as paste fill /

The safe environmental disposal of sulphide bearing materials is fast becoming a major economic factor in determining the profitability of mining operations. Among sulphide minerals, iron sulphides are the most common mining wastes. Surface disposal of pyrite and pyrrhotite mine waste is the major cause of acid mine drainage generation and the consequent environmental damages.This thesis investigates the use of new technologies and ideas to improve the disposal of mine waste containing pyrite and pyrrhotite. The first recommended improvement is to backfill the materials instead of disposing of them on the surface. There are new approaches and better technologies implemented in the last few years which enable mining operations to backfill total tailings. The new approach is the use of paste backfill technology, which is one of the focuses of this study. The next improvement, that could be economic as well as environmentally beneficial, is to find replacements for the presently used Portland cement (PC) in paste fill matrixes.The general objectives of this thesis study could be summarised by the following: (1) To study the possible replacement for PC in paste fill containing pyrrhotite. (2) To study the mixture of pyrrhotite containing paste fill and rock fill. (3) To design new binders to replace (totally or partially) the PC used in paste fill containing pyrite