Frost susceptibility of Nordic metal mine tailings

Abstract The mining industry produces significant amounts of waste materials, with the greatest volumes generated during enrichment. These waste materials or by-products, tailings, may be used as alternative civil engineering materials, reducing the need for natural resources. In cold climates, the frost behaviour of materials is one critical functional requirement in civil engineering applications. The frost behaviour of tailings classified as sand, silty sand, or sandy clayey silt (EN ISO), from four metal mines located in northern Finland and Sweden, was evaluated in this study using basic laboratory characterisation and one-dimensional freezing tests. The laboratory results were compared with existing guidelines on estimating the frost susceptibility of natural soils. Based on grain size distribution, the tailings samples were characterised as non-susceptible or frost-susceptible. Capillary rise values indicated that the frost susceptibility of the samples ranged from negligible to strong. In the one-dimensional frost heave test, measured frost heave after 96 h was 0.1–23.1 mm and calculated segregation potential (SP) was 0–9.7 mm²/Kh. Based on the frost heave test, the frost susceptibility of the samples ranged from low to strong. The results indicated that the finest samples classified as sandy clayey silt (L1−L3) generated the majority measured amount of frost heave and were classified as frost-susceptible material. The coarser tailings samples (K1-K3 and AK1) classified as sand or silty sand were classified non-susceptible, and measured frost heave amounts were low <1.0 mm (after 96 h). Thus, the tailings samples behaved like natural soils, indicating that classification methods developed for natural soils are valid for evaluation of the frost susceptibility of mine tailings. However, the influence of added reagents should be considered, and standardised frost behaviour methods should be developed