The development of high density and paste thickening technologies has changed the economics used in evaluating the benefits of increased thickener underflow density. This comes at a time of increasing competition for scarce water resources and a tightening regulatory framework in both water use and impoundment. These and other factors have led to more and more plants using high density and paste thickening technologies together with optimised tailings disposal schemes to recover water, minimise tailings impoundment areas and comply with regulations. High density and paste thickening have allowed these plants to take advantage of the tailings disposal options that weren't previously possible. This paper will give an overview of technology including the differences between high rate, high density and deep cone paste thickeners. It will also review a number of recent projects including the decision process and resulting technology selection. Results from recent installations will also be discussed.

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Water is a significant issue in the Atacama desert, and at a variety of mining locations worldwide. Maximizing water recovery makes sense both economically and environmentally. Surface stacking of tailings would appear to significantly improve water recovery for a limited additional capital expense. An additional benefit is extending the tailings impoundment life. However, even though surface stacking of tailings would appear to be both feasible and reasonable, the number of mines practicing this method is relatively low. So why hasn't this technology taken off in a dry climate like the Atacama? A number of studies have been done looking at applying these methods to handle very high tonnages, but none of them have gone ahead. This paper will consider some of the reasons why and the barriers to implementing these projects.https://papers.acg.

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