Evaluation of the impact of karst depression-type impoundments on the underlying karst water systems in the Gejiu mining district, southern Yunnan, China

Gao, Haiyan; Xu, Ze‐Min; Wang, Kun; Ren, Zhe; Yang, Kui; Tang, Yongjun; Lin, Tingyu; Chen, Ji-pu

doi:10.1007/s10064-019-01465-7

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 39 publications

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“…If tailings impoundments can be reasonably remined, it not only enables the rational recycling of resources but also dramatically reduces or even eliminates the risk of tailings pond collapse and reduces the tailings pond failure rate (Vasile et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2009;Wei et al, 2016;Yu et al, 2014). Furthermore, reclaiming abandoned tailings impoundment brings certain economic benefits to the mine and protects the ecological environment (Gao et al, 2019;Mackay et al, 2020;Martín-Moreno et al, 2018). Tailings generally have high water content and high compressibility (Chen et al, 2021;Hancock, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The stability of dams with different stoping elevations in Tongling valley type tailings impoundment: A case study in Yunnan China

Wang

Zuo

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Significant interest has been focused on recovery rates, recovery options, and recovery utilization when tailings impoundments are re-mined. However, the stability of the tailings dams during the recovery process is also a severe issue. Based on engineering geological survey and laboratory tests, the Tongling tailings impoundment’s characteristics of instability evolution under different recovery heights and diverse working conditions were analyzed by numerical simulation. Firstly, with the help of 2D software, the position of the tailings dam infiltration line and the alteration of the dam safety factor during the stoping process were calculated. Secondly, 3Dmine software was used to create the 3D surface structure of the tailings impoundment, and then a 3D numerical analysis model was established by means of Midas GTS NX software. The numerical simulation of seepage and stress analyses were conducted based on the model. Consequently, the evolution of the stability characteristics of tailings dam under different operating conditions was calculated. The research demonstrates that the dry beach length of the tailings pond gradually reduces with the decrease of the extraction height, resulting in a lower infiltration line. Under flood conditions, the saturation line has partial overflow due to the poor seepage discharge capacity of the dam. The total displacement of the dam body is inversely proportional to the retrieval height. The more extreme the analyzed working conditions, the more the safety factor will be reduced. Additionally, the plastic variation area of the dam body will be more comprehensive, which will increase the risk of a dam collapse.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The stability of dams with different stoping elevations in Tongling valley type tailings impoundment: A case study in Yunnan China

Wang

Zuo

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Status of research on hydrogen sulphide gas in Chinese mines

Tan

Shao

Wei

et al. 2019

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Laterite as a Potential Seepage Barrier From a Karst-Depression Tailings Impoundment

Gao

Ren

et al. 2021

Clays and clay miner.

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In the absence of the necessary valley topography, karst depressions are sometimes used to construct conventional impoundments in order to contain tailings. Leakage is a primary concern for such impoundments. The purpose of the current study was to determine the characteristics and barrier performance of laterite mantling karst depressions, using, as an example, the Wujiwatang (WJWT) tailings impoundment, located in the Gejiu mining area, southwestern China. The geotechnical-hydrogeological properties, geochemistry, mineral compositions, and particle shapes of the laterite were investigated by geotechnical techniques, chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the laterite contained poorly sorted particles that covered a wide spectrum of grain sizes (<5 mm to <50 nm), and was unexpectedly categorized as silty clay or silt with a high liquid limit. The continuous gradation and small D90 value helped the laterite achieve saturated hydraulic conductivities in the range of <10–6 cm/s required for impoundment liners. The laterite beneath the tailings impoundment was finer-grained and had a lower permeability than that of the laterite on the depression walls within the same depression. Geochemically and mineralogically, the laterite was classified as true laterite and its major mineralogical constituents were gibbsite and goethite with chlorite occurring in trace amounts. The laterite was dominated by subspherolitic–spherolitic cohesionless grains (concretions) made up of Al, Fe, Ti, and Mn oxides and hydroxides. The laterite did not have plasticity indices in the clay range. Fortunately, slopewash prior to tailings containment selectively transported the finer oxide concretions to the depression floor, creating a natural low-permeability barrier for the WJWT tailings impoundment. This is undoubtedly important for the planning and design of future karst depression-type tailings impoundments around the world.

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Evaluation of the impact of karst depression-type impoundments on the underlying karst water systems in the Gejiu mining district, southern Yunnan, China

Cited by 6 publications

References 39 publications

The stability of dams with different stoping elevations in Tongling valley type tailings impoundment: A case study in Yunnan China

The stability of dams with different stoping elevations in Tongling valley type tailings impoundment: A case study in Yunnan China

Status of research on hydrogen sulphide gas in Chinese mines

Laterite as a Potential Seepage Barrier From a Karst-Depression Tailings Impoundment

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