Mining Wastes as Road Construction Material: A Review

Abstract

The mining industry manages large volumes of tailings, sludge, and residues that represent a huge environmental issue. This fact has prompted research into valorization of these wastes as alternative aggregates for concrete production, embankments, pavement material, etc. The use of mining wastes as a resource for construction presents two benefits: conserving natural resources and reducing the environmental impacts of mining. In the case of road construction, the use of mining wastes has not yet been developed on a large scale and there is a major lack of specific legislation. This gap is due to the variety of exploited rocks, the diversity of tailings, mine residues, or valuable by-products slated for valorization, and the environmental specifics. This paper presents a review on recycling mine wastes as road construction material, including waste rock and mine tailings. Those materials were mostly used in infrastructure where soils had initially poor geotechnical properties (low bearing capacity, frost susceptibility, swelling risk, etc.). Different mining wastes were used directly or stabilized by a hydraulic binder through geopolymerization or, in some cases, with bituminous treatment. Overall, the use of mine wastes for road construction will have a considerable environmental impact by reducing the volume of waste and offering sustainable raw materials.

Tailings Behavior Assessment Using Piezocone Penetration Test

“…q n > 200 kPa M = 5.03 q n + 1260.71 (22) q n < 200 kPa The above results of linear regression analysis pertain to the part of the q n variable population, where q n > 200 kPa. However, in the range where 0 < q n < 200 kPa, the function takes the form presented by Equation ( 23) (Figure 9c).…”

“…On the storage facility beach, the coarsest fractions settle, exhibiting sand-like properties. Sandy tailings are used in the construction of TSF dams and can also be successfully applied in earthworks and the production of geopolymers [20][21][22]. As one moves away from the beach, the volume of fine fractions increases, while the silty fraction migrates to the third zone.…”

“…The next step involves considering two factors determining the cone characteristics: both the influence of the recorded excess of pore water pressure of the tailing on the measured value of cone resistance and the influence of the stress state in the subsoil on the cone resistance. This approach leads to the determination of a more complex but, at the same time, better-fitted relationship (Equation (22), Figure 9c, Table 3). The above results of linear regression analysis pertain to the part of the qn variable population, where qn > 200 kPa.…”

Prompt determination of predictive parameters for mining-technogenic landscape objects

“…Determining the geometric parameters of mining-technogenic landscape objects is of great importance in the development of strategies and concepts for the restoration of land areas disturbed by mining operations. Based on the analysis of possible applied problems for determining the parameters of mining-technogenic landscape objects, the following directions can be identified: filling of mined-out quarry spaces [27,28], filling of the earth's surface subsidence and failure zones [29,30], volumes of dump waste rocks used as backfill materials [31,32], volumes of dump waste rocks for road construction [33,34], volumes of dump waste rocks for their processing [35,36], surface areas of dumps for reclamation [37,38].…”

Recycling of Mine Wastes in the Concrete Industry: A Review

“…Catastrophic tailings dam failures have occurred in several countries, including Spain, Romania, China, and Brazil [12]. About 277 people died when a dam tragedy occurred in China in 2008 [13].…”