Murray Zircon Pty Ltd operates the Mindarie Mineral Sands Project in South Australia comprising a mine and concentrator plant. The program for environmental protection and rehabilitation (PEPR) approved by the South Australia Department of Manufacturing, Innovation, Trade, Resources and Energy (DMITRE) requires diligent management of the tailings deposition and overall mine rehabilitation processes. The mining licence was granted based on a maximum permitted operational footprint of the open area of the mine. Mining at Mindarie follows the 'moving-hole' concept whereby topsoil and overburden is removed, ore is mined, tailings are deposited in the mined-out space and are then capped by overburden. The moving hole must advance at approximately 10 m per day. Consequently, it is imperative that dewatering, consolidation and stabilisation of deposited tailings happens quickly. Tailings are treated using a high molecular weight polymer which rapidly releases clean water for reuse in the concentrator plant. The polymer binds the coarse and fine particles together to create a non-segregating deposit and accelerates the consolidation rate. Polymer dosing regimes for the tailings have historically relied on a visual interpretation of the material entering the tailings cells to determine the optimum dose; however, it is the consolidation rate and associated strength gain that determines when overburden replacement can begin. To provide an improved assessment of the impacts of dosage on consolidation, geotechnical testing was undertaken on material treated with different polymer levels. A recent development for the Mindarie mine is to adjust the natural acidic pH of tailings to a slightly alkaline level using lime. This was done in order to overcome a throughput bottleneck in the slimes thickener and reduce polymer dosing levels in the slimes thickener and tailings applications. The impact of lime addition on polymer dosing, together with the effect of lime on tailings consolidation properties is also investigated.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.